The Adventures of Red Ryder
by nicholas.cornish2
Summary: David Young, a 19 year billionaire orphan, tries to keep the streets clear of criminals trying to corrupt Ambrose City, in order to complete this mission, he becomes the worlds newest hero, Red Ryder, using his wide array of gadgets and weapons. I have officially changed the name from Krimzon
1. First Ride Part 1

Here is my new fanfiction

Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics

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><p>Late at night, in Ambrose City, a mysterious figure was seen near a jewellery shop. He smashed the window and snuck in, 5 minutes later, he escaped with a duffel bag. He walks off and hides in an alleyway, he reached inside the duffel bag and pulled out a big diamond.<p>

"Ah, such beauty"

==Young Mansion, the next morning==

NEWSPAPER HEADLINES: "Jewel Thief Strikes Again"

"I can't believe this Angelo" said an unknown person

The person put down the newspaper, revealing a teenager about 19 years of age, with black spiky hair, wearing a black T-Shirt and dark jeans.

"Crime is rampant throughout Ambrose City, and no one is willing to make a stand" said the teenager

"What about the police, Master David?" asked an elderly man

"They have no leads to catch this jewel thief, he's good at covering his tracks, anyway Angelo, how are thing going for my Gala tonight?" asked David

"All your guests have accepted the invitations" said Angelo

"Perfect" said David

David and Angelo lived alone in Young mansion, after David's mother, Lauren, died of cancer and David's father, Edward, died in a car accident, David took over his father's company, Youngtech. Inspite of David's young age, he had turned the company into a billion dollar corporation. Angelo acted as David's guardian after David's parents died, now he acts a bit more like a butler, but he doesn't mind.

"So will your Gala tonight be the announcement of your new ground breaking idea?" asked Angelo

"No, not tonight, not yet" said David

==The Gala==

The mansion was packed, the guests included some of the city's best known Politicians, CEO's and Corporate Men & Women.

"Mr Young, what a lovely gala" said Francis Andrews, the city's police commissioner.

"Thank you very much Commissioner" said David

David wandered around the large room until he bumped into a young girl, about David's age, she had auburn hair, she was dressed in a black dress and was wearing a pair of glasses. When David bumped into her, she accidently spilled her drink onto his suit.

"Oh, I'm sorry" said the girl

"It's alright, accidents happen" said David

"Hey, aren't you David young, the one throwing this party?" asked the girl

"I am, and you are?" asked David

"Emily" said the girl

At that point, Francis approached the 2.

"Ah, David, I see you met my daughter, Emily" said Francis

"Yes I have, it was nice meeting you by the way" said David

"You too" said Emily

==Elsewhere==

The same jewel thief that robbed the jewellery store was sneaking into a house.

"Too easy" said the thief

Within minutes, he was out with a duffel bag filled with jewellery

==The next morning==

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE: "Jewel thief yet to meet his match"

"Damn it, another robbery" said David

"Sir? What happened?" asked Angelo

"That Jewel thief stole $500,000 worth of diamonds during my Gala last night by robbing from the homes of one of my guests" said David

"This is really getting out of hand sir" said Angelo

"I know, Angelo, tonight, we must put Operation R into action" said David

==That Night==

David was in his study, he pressed a near his foot and his chair dropped him into a trap door, he ended up inside an underground Laboratory. Angelo was waiting for him near a big computer.

"Are you sure about this sir?" asked Angelo

"I'm sure" said David

David goes behind a wall, when he comes out, the front of him is not shown.

"Angelo, you know what to do" said David

Angelo pulled on a lever and a red/black motorcycle entered through a small lift in the floor.

"Good luck sir" said Angelo

"I don't need luck" said David

David took off like a bullet out the door.

==Downtown==

The jewel thief is in an alley.

"This is just getting easier" said the thief

The jewel thief reaches into his duffel bag and pulls out a diamond the size of a human fist. A shadow is seen peeking round a corner.

"Ah, the Serpent's Fang, the second most valuable diamond in all of Ambrose City" said the thief

Quick footsteps are heard, the thief is shocked and puts the diamond back into the duffel bag and looks around, he sees nothing, quick footsteps are heard again.

"Who's there?" asked the thief

An echo is heard. A shadow is seen on a bin, the thief turns around and sees the shadow, the shadow then jumps at him.

"AAAAHHHHH!" yelled the thief

The 2 engaged in a fight, which ended in the thief being pinned against the bin.

"Who are you? WHO ARE YOU?" asked the thief

"You can call me, Red Ryder" said the shadow

Red Ryder punched the thief in the face, knocking him out cold. Red Ryder then grabs some rope and ties the thief's feet together, Red Ryder then proceeds to hang the thief upside down from a fence.

Red Ryder then walks back to his bike, revealing his full look. He was wearing a black top with no sleeves, a red utility belt, black tights, red boots, red gloves, red mechanical wristbands, a black mask that covered his mouth and nose and he was also wearing a pair of black sunglasses with red lenses, his hair and ears were uncovered and he wasn't wearing a cape. Red Ryder then returns to the lab, and removes the glasses and mask.

"How was is master David?" asked Angelo

"Mission Accomplished Angelo" said David

Meanwhile, the police just arrived in the alleyway to find the jewel thief tied to the fence.

==The Next Morning==

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE: "Jewel Thief Caught"

"Ah, Angelo, I slept great last night knowing that the Jewel Thief has been caught" said David

"Good to know, but it doesn't look like you're getting any recognition" said Angelo

"What do you mean?" asked David

Angelo showed David the paper.

_Last night, The Ambrose City Jewel Thief was caught trying to steal The Serpent's Fang from the Ambrose City Museum, however, he was caught and arrested by Commissioner Francis Andrews._

"I don't believe it, Francis is taking credit for Red Ryder's work" said David

"Apparently so" said Angelo

"Oh well, I don't mind, I know Francis, the minute even the smallest piece of evidence is against him, he'll confess that he's lying" said David

==Meanwhile==

At Rollins Asylum, Ambrose City's Mental Asylum, 2 police officers were walking through the hallway.

"And this is where we keep the most psychotic of all the criminals here at Rollins Asylum" said the older of the 2 officers

"Really?" asked the younger

"Yes, such as Duke Fredrick, the Ambrose Cannibal, or Olivia Crystal, she tried to murder the mayor by hanging him from City Hall" said the older

"What about that?" asked the younger, pointing to a large metal door in the very far end of the room.

"Whoa Rookie, the guy in there is too crazy for someone as young as you" said the older

"Who is it?" asked the rookie

"In there is a psycho serial killer that murdered over 100 people over the course of 2 years" said the older of the 2

"Why did it take 2 years?" asked the rookie

"Well, since his targets seemed to have nothing in common, it was hard to track him, we eventually caught him when he tried to murder someone infront of a hidden camera" said the older officer

"What's his name?" asked the rookie

"His name is Vance Roland" said the older officer

==The Next Night==

The next night, David was in his study, he was listening to the radio until he found something about a police chase. He pressed the button under his desk and his chair dropped him into the trap door. He arrived in the lab where Angelo already was.

"Angelo, we got a Police Chase on 2nd street, ready the glider" said David

"Yes Sir" said Angelo

Angelo pressed a button on the computer and David's suit appeared out of the wall. He proceeded to put it on. Angelo typed in a code on the computer and a modified hang glider appeared hanging from 2 ropes near a window, a ramp also formed leading up to the same window. David, now wearing the Red Ryder suit, stood at the bottom of the ramp.

"3...2...1!" said Angelo

Within less than a second, David was launched out the window, he was able to grab the glider before he went out the window.

"Alright sir, what street did you say the chase was on?" asked Angelo

"Second" said David

David used the glider to scout all of Ambrose City, until he found the chase.

"Angelo, I found the chase" said David

"What do you intend to do?" asked Angelo

"You'll see, but first, activate the glider's auto pilot" said David

"Way ahead of you" said Angelo

"You did remember to pack arrows did you?" asked David

"Yes sir" said Angelo

David reached into one of the pouches attached to his belt and pulled out an arrow. Suddenly, a crossbow-like device formed out of David's right Wristband.

"Ready?" asked Angelo

"Aim" said David

A crosshair appeared in the lens of David's glasses, he waited until he had a lock on the getaway's back tyre.

"Fire" said David

The crossbow launched the arrow right to the getaway's car and it hit the back tyre, bursting it, bringing the car to a stop, allowing the police to catch the driver.

"You are under arrest" said Francis

The officers took the driver away, when Francis noticed the arrow used to take down the getaway's car, he looked up and saw Red Ryder.

"What the hell?" asked Francis

==Morning==

David just woke up, not realising he was still wearing his Red Ryder glasses. He went downstairs, where Angelo had already made breakfast.

"Morning Angelo" said David

"Morning Master David, um, you still have the glasses on" said Angelo

David removed the glasses.

"Thanks, so, anything new?" asked David

"Nothing so far" said Angelo

David turned on the TV.

"_And in other news, last night, police apprehended a getaway driver who was trying to make it out of Ambrose City with $250,000 when suddenly his tyre blew out and the police were able to capture him, what baffles the police is the sight of a mysterious arrow found near the driver's car_" said the reporter

"So, nothing new?" asked David

"I just found out a few seconds ago" said Angelo

A knock was heard at the door. David went to answer it, revealing Emily.

"Oh, hi Emily, what are you doing here?" asked David

"My father wanted me to give you this for some reason, I have no idea what it is, he told me not to open it" said Emily, handing David an envelope

"Um, thanks, how is your father anyway?" asked David

"He's fine, except he keeps acting weird talking about that arrow, well, see you later" said Emily

"See you later" said David

When Emily left, David opened the envelope, showing a picture of the arrow.

==Meanwhile==

At Rollins Asylum, a woman was carrying a tray to the hallway at the end.

"Mister Roland, your dinner is here" said the lady

No answer.

"Mister Roland?" asked the lady

She opened a peep hole and saw nothing.

"Huh?" asked the lady

She opened the door to see if he was still in the cell, without warning, an unknown person jumped her and strangled her, before leaving through the door she left open.

==Later that Day==

David headed to Francis' house to talk to him, he knocked on the door and Francis answered.

"Oh, hello David" said Francis

"Hello Commissioner" said David

"Is there something you want to talk about?" asked Francis

"Yes, the photo that you asked Emily to deliver to my house" said David

"Please, come in" said Francis, before David entered the house.

"So Commissioner, why did you have the photo delivered to my house?" asked David, acting as if he had nothing to do with the arrow.

"Well, after finding the arrow, I noticed something in the sky, it looked like a guy hang gliding, but there wasn't enough wind or light for hang gliding" said Francis

"What does that have to do with me?" asked David

"You're the only one I can trust with this information, I want you to promise that if you see anything regarding this hang glider, let me know immediately" said Francis

"I promise" said David

At that point, Francis got a phone call, he quickly answered it.

"Hello?...What is it?...What about him?...WHAT?! He escaped?...How?...I'll be right there" said Francis, before hanging up

"What's going on?" asked David

"One of our prisoners escaped" said Francis

==Asylum==

The door to the cell was still open, Francis entered the cell, David followed, Francis insisted that David shouldn't come along, but David insisted, there were blood marks on the floor, near a chalk outline of the victim.

"Vance Roland has escaped" said Francis

"Vance Roland?" asked David

"Yes, that psycho has killed over 100 people over the course of 2 years, he's dangerous" said Francis

David noticed the chalk outline was missing something.

"Why's the chalk outline missing a thumb?" asked David

"Roland always cuts off the thumb and keeps it as a trophy" said Francis

"That's sick, but I'm sure you can catch him" said David

"Don't worry, we will" said Francis

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><p><strong>I'm gonna end right there, now, just so you know, each chapter will be a bit long, that way I can make it about as long as an episode of a TV show, so this entire fic will contain lots of different villains. Also, I know that this fic was originally called 'The Adventures of Krimzon', but since the name 'Crimson' was taken, I noticed that changing the spelling slightly didn't make a difference so I just changed the name to 'Red Ryder'<strong>

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	2. First Ride Part 2

Here is my new fanfiction

Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics

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><p>David was in the lab, he was working on something. Angelo walked in.<p>

"Care for a drink master David?" asked Angelo

"Thanks Angelo" said David

"Sir, what are you working on?" asked Angelo

"I'm working on one of the gloves for the Red Ryder suit" said David, before showing Angelo the left glove

"What have you done to it? It looks the same" said Angelo

David put the glove on, pointed it at Angelo and a sword quickly sprung out of the glove.

"Hidden Sword" said David

"Impressive sir" said Angelo

"Thanks, Red Ryder is gonna need it to go after Roland" said David

"Sorry sir, but I must put my foot down there, you cannot go after Roland, he's too dangerous" said Angelo

"You're not going to make me change my mind, Red Ryder's job is to protect the city, and that's what he's gonna do" said David

"Well, if you insist, at least take some new gadgets" said Angelo

"But, I don't have any other gadgets" said David

Angelo walked up to the computer and typed in a code, and soon enough, a wall emerged from the floor covered in weapons and gadgets.

"Whoa, Angelo, where'd you get this stuff?" asked David

"Before I worked for your family, I worked for the CIA" said Angelo

"Nice, but what is all this stuff?" asked David

"Well, there are stuff like shurikens, grappling hooks, zip launchers, de-coders, smoke bombs etcetera" said Angelo

"Awesome, this stuff could come in handy" said David

"Just one more thing sir" said Angelo

"What is it?" asked David

"I will need your glasses" said Angelo

"Um, Okay" said David, confused

David handed Angelo the Red Ryder glasses, half an hour later, Angelo returned them, they looked exactly the same.

"What did you do to them?" asked David

"You'll see" said Angelo

"Alright then, I better get started" said David

"Not yet sir, you better get started in the morning" said Angelo

"Very well" said David

==Meanwhile==

A woman was seen walking home when a shadow peeks around a corner.

==The Next Day==

That morning police had been called to a crime that had been committed in an alleyway. David was riding past on his motorcycle when he noticed the crime scene, he stopped his motorcycle and walked over.

"What happened?" asked David

"It's Roland, he's been out a day and he's already struck" said Francis

David looked at the body and nearly fainted.

==That Night==

David entered the lab, Angelo was already there.

"Angelo, you know what to do" said David

"Yes sir" said Angelo

Angelo typed a code into the computer and David's suit appeared out of the wall, the weapons appeared out of the floor. David put on the suit and grabbed some of the gadgets.

"Master David, what about your arrows?" asked Angelo

"I still have plenty, I've only used 1, but just incase, I should get it back" said David

"But they're keeping the arrow in the evidence locker" said Angelo

"I know, ready the bike" said David

Angelo did so and the bike appeared out of the floor, David hopped on, the door opened and David sped off. Within an hour, David arrived at the Police Station.

"Angelo, the police station uses a combination lock, any ideas?" asked David

"Use the de-coder, you'll be in there faster than you can say 'Red Ryder'" said Angelo

David pulled out the de-coder, within a second, he was in.

"Thanks" said David

David searched the station, he needed to find the evidence locker to get his arrow back, he also came for something else, he quickly found the evidence locker and used the de-coder to get in, he found his arrow and got out, but he still needed to find the other thing he was after, he heard a click and turned around, and saw Francis pointing a gun at him.

"Hands behind your back" said Francis

David did as instructed.

"Stealing from the evidence locker? You're in trouble" said Francis

"It's my arrow, I was just getting it back" said David, Francis didn't recognise his voice because David was using a modifier built into his mask.

"Your arrow? So you were the one I saw during the high-speed chase?" asked Francis

"Yes, now do me a favour and drop the gun" said David

"Give me one good reason why I should" said Francis

"Because I'm on your side, I'm one of the good guys" said David

"Good guys? Really? I don't believe you" said Francis

"You should, I'm here to help you find Vance Roland and bring him to justice" said David

"Who are you?" asked Francis

"You can call me Red Ryder" said David

"No, your real name" said Francis

"I'm afraid I can't reveal that" said David

David reached into one of the pouches attached to his belt and activated his crossbow.

"That's it, you're under arrest" said Francis

"Can't happen Francis, also, I'm sorry" said David

"Sorry for what?" asked Francis

"This" said David

David shot 2 arrows in Francis' direction, a rope tied to the 2 of them pinned Francis against the wall.

"Let me go" said Francis

"Later, but first, there's something I need to get" said David

"What?" asked Francis

David walked away, he searched through a file cabinet until he found a file labelled 'ROLAND, VANCE'. After David had the file, he walked out, but not before pressing a button on his glove, causing the arrows he shot at Francis to retract back to him.

"Now I don't need to get these back, I'll see you soon Francis" said David

David hopped on his bike and rode off. He returned to the lab with the file.

"I trust you were successful" said Angelo

"Was there ever any doubt Angelo?" asked David, removing the mask

David read the file, he read about the crimes that Roland committed, even the place he was caught.

"That's it, I know how to catch him" said David

"Really master David?" asked Angelo

"Yes, his hideout was an abandoned factory on the other side of town, that's where I'll find him" said David

==Meanwhile==

Francis just returned home, Emily was waiting for him.

"Dad, where were you?" asked Emily

"I was at the station, I think this city has a new criminal, some guy broke into the station, stole from the evidence locker and stole a case file, he calls himself Red Ryder" said Francis

Francis left to go to bed, Emily decided to do the same, while in her bedroom, a shadowy figure emerged behind her.

==Lab==

"Get everything planned master David?" asked Angelo

"Yes, I know exactly what gadgets I'll need, I know I can beat him, and I know I will" said David

==Factory==

In the factory, Emily was tied to the chair. Footsteps were heard. Black boots took steps towards her.

"Why are you doing this?" asked Emily

"I have my reasons, reasons you and the people of this city will never understand" said the man keeping her captive

"Are you going to kill me?" asked Emily

"Maybe, maybe not, it all depends on a certain someone's actions" said the man

==The Next Day==

David was already in his Red Ryder suit, he rushed to the factory, he knew exactly which gadgets to use, he arrived at the factory and entered.

"Ah, sounds like we have company" said Vance to Emily

Vance looked out the window of the room he was in and saw David dressed as Red Ryder.

"What the hell? Who is that?" asked Vance

"ROLAND! WHERE ARE YOU?!" asked David

"I'm upstairs, in the control room, come and get me if you can" said Vance over a PA System

David tried to run to the control room, when a gun went off, making David jump.

"What was that?" asked David

"You didn't know what this place is? This factory was used to make some of the worlds most dangerous military weaponry" said Vance

David clicked his boots together and wheels emerged out the bottom of them, allowing him to rollerblade across the factory, helping him get to the control room quickly. He opened the door and saw Vance Roland, he was a man above average in height, he was wearing black leather pants and black boots and a brown tank top, he had brown hair down to his neck and had a five o'clock shadow.

"So your Vance Roland?" asked David

"I am, and who might you be?" asked Vance

"My name is Red Ryder, and I'm here to stop you" said David

David activated the sword built into one of his gloves.

"You're gonna stop me? Not when it puts her at stake" said Vance, gesturing to Emily

"_Emily?_" thought David

"Let her go" said David

"Why should I? I need her for my plan to get out of this city" said Vance

"What are you talking about?" asked David

"Normally, I would kill those I capture within an hour, but I have kept her alive, I am waiting for the police to arrive and attempt to save her, but I will only give her up if they agree to give me a ride out of the city" said Vance

"Why do you do this? Why kill people?" asked David

"It was 20 years ago, my father was Ambrose City's most famous doctor, and my mother was the City's most famous Lawyer, then one tragic night, while I was visiting my friend, my parent's house caught fire and it killed my father and severely injured my mother, within months, driving her to suicide, detectives deduced it to an electrical fire but I found out the truth, the patterns didn't match an electrical fire, 1 year later I found out that the fire was sabotage by someone after my family, after another year of searching, I found the person behind the fire, and I killed him to get my revenge and avenge my parents" said Vance

"But revenge is never the answer, even if it was, you got your revenge, why kill all the others?" asked David

"After killing the monster that killed my father, I realised that I had nothing left, my father had no insurance and neither did my mother, I was left broke, starving and cold, I tried to get a job at the carnival to earn my own money, but I was rejected, after that, I tried becoming a pick pocket, but I wasn't a very good one, then, after 13 years with nothing to live for, having to feed on whatever food the local takeaways were throwing away, I decided to end it all, I attempted to hang myself over Ambrose City bridge when some goon tried to mug me, I had no money to give him so he would have killed me, I fought back and eventually, I was able to kill him, but I realised that it had no meaning, so I gave it meaning and cut his thumb off to remember what I had done, then I also realised that if he was a good mugger then he would have money on him, so I robbed the body and ran" said Vance

"You do this to earn some money? Anyway, how come the stolen money didn't turn up on the police reports?" asked David

"I only took a little amount so no one would notice, but my story is not over Ryder, I soon ran low on money and had no way to get more, then I remembered the thumb and how easy it was getting the money, so I decided to do it again, but I couldn't just kill anyone, I needed a fair way to pick who dies and who lives, so with the final amount of money I had left, I purchased a phone book, and dialled a number at random, had a conversation with whoever was on the other end, then when they hung up, I looked at the address, I went there, robbed them dry, before knocking out the poor soul and dragging them somewhere else before killing them, then just like before, I would remove the thumb as a trinket" said Vance

"You're crazy, but a nice story, it gave THEM plenty of time to get here" said David, pointing out the window of the room

The police had arrived, Francis was standing at the front door.

"ROLAND, COME QUIETLY AND NO ONE GETS HURT" said Francis through a bullhorn

"Sorry Commissioner, but unless you want to save your daughter, I'm not going anywhere with you" said Vance

Vance held Emily's arms behind her back and held a knife to her throat.

"_Emily?_" thought Francis

"Let her go Vance" said Francis

"Oh I will Commissioner, but only if you give into my demands" said Vance

"What demands?" asked Francis

"First, I want you and your entire police force to let me leave the city, no questions asked, second, I want a plane to fly me to Buenos Aries and no one follows me" said Vance

Francis noticed Red Ryder in the control room.

"_Ryder? I knew that he was a criminal_" thought Francis

David didn't know what to do.

"_What should I do? If I try to stop him that would put Emily in danger, wait, I've got it_" thought David

David readied his crossbow and readied an arrow. The crosshair appeared in his glasses, he aimed for Roland's leg.

"What's it gonna be Commissioner?" asked Vance

David fired the arrow, shooting Vance in the back of the leg and bringing him to his knees.

"Quick, get out of here" said David to Emily

Emily rushed out the door and quickly got to safety.

"NO! I needed her to get out of this city" said Vance

"Too bad Vance, your plans have been foiled, all that's left for you is prison" said David

"That maybe so, but I still have time for one more victim" said Vance

Vance grabbed his knife and charged at David, but David was able to sidestep him.

"Careful Vance, if you do this, you'll regret it" said David

"You're wrong, I'll regret not taking an opportunity like this" said Vance

Vance charged at David once more, but David was once again, able to avoid contact, David then escaped to the stairwell, but Vance was hot in pursuit, David was able to make it to the roof, Vance following closely behind.

"You're going to regret messing with my plans" said Vance

David tried to get away, but found himself at the end of the roof with nowhere else to run.

"No more running, no more games" said Vance

David reached for one of the pouches on his belt.

"This ends now" said Vance

Vance charged at David, and David activated the device he grabbed from his belt, shining a bright light in Vance's face, temporarily blinding him. Vance quickly lost his footing and fell of the roof, however, he was able to grab onto the ledge with one hand. David stood above him, looking down at him.

"Wow, so this is how it's going to end? Me falling to my death, and you, just going to watch? Well, I guess even some of the best stories don't have a happy ending" said Vance

Vance soon lost his grip and was about to fall, when David grabbed his wrist.

"No, I don't let people die, no matter who they are, I'm not you Roland, I'm not a killer" said David, before pulling Vance up.

"You saved me, why?" asked Vance

"I told you, I'm not a killer" said David

David quickly grabbed another gadget, he used it to taze Roland and knock him out.

"But that doesn't mean you're off the hook" said David

David grabbed a rope and tied together Vance's hands before dragging him to the ground floor. On the ground floor, Police were still waiting for Vance, David dumped Vance's body infront of them.

"Here you go men, he's all yours" said David

"Huh? Why did you take him down?" asked Francis

"I told you...I'm on your side" said David

David pressed a button on his belt and his bike crashed through a wall, he quickly got on the bike.

"Stay safe" said David

David then rode off, crashing through the other wall. He arrived back at the lab, with Angelo waiting for him.

"Did you catch him sir?" asked Angelo

"Yes I did, Roland is going back to Rollins Asylum, Ambrose City is safe from him again, and now the police know that Red Ryder is one of the good guys" said David

"Very good sir" said Angelo

"Yeah, very good indeed" said David

"Sir, I just realised, if Ambrose City has someone like Vance Roland, who knows what other people are out there?" asked Angelo

"You're right Angelo, but I have a feeling that they're nothing that Red Ryder can't handle" said David

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><p><strong>That does it for this edition, I'm sorry if it seemed a little anticlimactic but I just didn't want to make the fic too long.<strong>

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	3. Very Puzzling Part 1

Hope you enjoy this chapter, also, from now on, whenever David is wearing the Red Ryder suit, I will just call him Red Ryder

Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics

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><p>David was in an underground race track, he was wearing the Red Ryder suit and was riding his motorcycle, he eventually stopped. The city quickly knew about Red Ryder, after a week, he had already become a well known name.<p>

"How was that?" asked Red Ryder

"20 minutes 32 seconds" said Angelo

"That's the fastest time yet, this bike's getting better" said Red Ryder

An alarm went off.

"What's happening?" asked Red Ryder

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, I installed an alarm whenever there's an emergency that requires Red Ryder" said Angelo

"Nice touch" said Red Ryder

"Also, here, take this" said Angelo, handing Red Ryder a new gadget

"What is it?" asked Red Ryder

"A communication device" said Angelo

"Thanks, but it's time for me to go" said Red Ryder

Red Ryder hopped on his bike and rode out, while riding, the communication device went off, and Commissioner Andrew's was on the other end.

"Red Ryder" said Francis

"Commissioner?" asked Red Ryder

"Yes, I was given a communication device from an anonymous source saying it was a way to contact you" said Francis

"What do you need?" asked Red Ryder

"A man is trying to rob the national history museum, he's armed and has already killed 2 security guards" said Francis

"On it, Red Ryder out" said Red Ryder

Red Ryder arrived at the museum, a man carrying a machine gun was inside, he was a tall African American dressed in all blue.

"Hurry up, give me the money" said the man

Meanwhile, Red Ryder used a grappling hook to get on the roof, he needed to plan out his actions. He opened a skylight window and dropped a smoke bomb into the bank, it immediately went off.

"What was that?" asked the robber

When the smoke cleared, Red Ryder stood infront of the robber.

"You? Oh well" said the robber

The robber quickly shot Red Ryder and knocked him down, shocking everyone, when the robber turned around, Red Ryder kipped back up.

"How are you alive?" asked the robber

"Luckily I was prepared, my suit is bulletproof" said Red Ryder

The robber charged at Red Ryder, but Red Ryder sidestepped and the robber went face first into the wall, when he turned around, Red Ryder spinning heel kicked him in the jaw. The robber tried to say something, but the impact of the wall and the kick had broken his jaw.

"In the name of Ambrose City, you are under arrest" said Red Ryder

==Meanwhile==

A man was sitting in a dark room, watching a news report on the Robbery on TV.

"_After convicted Burglar, Damien Derek, tried to rob the Ambrose City National History Museum, fortunately, he was stopped and caught by Ambrose City's hero, Red Ryder, now Damien faces a life sentence for the murder of 2 security guards_" said the reporter

"So, Damien Derek has been arrested by Red Ryder? I bet he would want some revenge, this is not going to be fun for you" said the man.

==The Next Day==

David was back home when there was a knock at the door, David opened the door and saw a cardboard box.

"Who was at the door sir?" asked Angelo

"A package, that's weird, I didn't order anything" said David

David emptied the contents of the package onto a table, inside was a bunch of puzzle pieces.

"A Jigsaw Puzzle?" asked David

==Meanwhile==

A man was seen walking through Rollins Asylum carrying a box, he was tall, skinny, pale skin, dark red hair and was dressed in a navy blue suit with a pair of glasses, he walked up to a cell, inside was Damien Derek, the robber.

"Ah, Damien Derek, I've been looking for you" said the man

Damien didn't respond, he couldn't because of his broken jaw.

"I know about your jaw, that's why I brought you something" said the man

The man reached inside his pocket and pulled out a key, he used it to unlock the cell.

"Here, this is a gift for you" said the man

The man handed Damien the box, Damien opened it to reveal a weird device that looked like some sort of headgear.

"Try it on" said the man

Damien was a bit weirded out by what was going on, but he put on the headgear, when it was on, the man pulled out a wrench and tightened a series of bolts attached to the top of the device.

"Now, speak" said the man

"How can I?...wait, I can talk?" asked Damien

"Yes, you see, that device has realigned your jawline, you're fine now, but I'd be careful, that device must permanently stay on your head now" said the man

"Why?" asked Damien

"It's hooked into your upper and lower jaw, removing it would not only be difficult and painful, but also, even if you are able to take it off, it would cause you to bleed out" said the man

"Then why give me it? My jaw would have healed eventually anyway" said Damien

"Yes, but there are some added bonuses to that headgear, for starters, it gives you the jaw strength of a crocodile, allowing you to bite through anything that weighs up to 5,000 pounds, watch, bite this wrench" said the man

Damien bit through the wrench with ease.

"See, and with this device, you will be able to get your revenge on Red Ryder" said the man

"Who are you?" asked Damien

"You can call me Eugene, now come with me" said the man

Damien got up and left the cell, but Eugene stayed behind.

"What are you doing?" asked Damien

"I am leaving a little something for Red Ryder" said Eugene, before placing a blue envelope on Damien's cell bed.

==Young Mansion==

David had just finished the jigsaw puzzle. It was a picture of Rollins Asylum.

"Finished, but why would someone send me a jigsaw puzzle of Rollins Asylum?" asked David

"I have no idea sir" said Angelo

"Well, I might as well box it up again" said David

David then noticed something on the floor, a reflection of the back of the puzzle with writing on it.

"What the?" asked David

David got under the table and saw a message written underneath the jigsaw.

_Congratulations, you finished the Puzzle_

_But the games have just started, go 2 the destination on this puzzle and ask 4 a specific number, in order to make this fair,  
>I will be keeping the answer a secret, but when you find the next clue, you will know you've 1.<em>

_Good Luck, The Puzzler._

"The destination on this puzzle?" asked Angelo

"It's obvious Angelo, the image on the puzzle is Rollins Asylum, the number must be a cell number, this puzzler wants me to go to a specific cell" said David

"But which cell?" asked Angelo

"That's easy, three words were written as numbers instead, 241" said David

==Meanwhile==

Eugene and Damien had arrived at Eugene's hideout, the walls were dark and light blue vertical striped, there was a big chair at the end of the room, next to it was a long silver stick with a letter 'P' in gold at the top.

"I can't wait for when Red Ryder gets here" said Eugene

"Eugene, how can you be so sure he's here?" asked Damien

"Because I sent a package to his house, I know his true identity, there is only 1 person in all of Ambrose City that has the same hairstyle, height, build and skin tone as Red Ryder" said Eugene

"Then who is it?" asked Damien

"Sorry, I can't tell you yet, I know that once I reveal his identity, you'll go after him, and I can't let that happen...yet" said Eugene

==Rollins Asylum==

Red Ryder had arrived at Rollins Asylum, he was being lead to cell 241 by a woman with dark brown hair and tanned skin. They found several unconscious guards.

"What happened?" asked Red Ryder

"I don't know, someone must have broken in...or out" said the woman

The 2 ran to cell 241, it was empty, all that was left was a blue envelope left on the bed.

"Who's cell was this?" asked Red Ryder

"It was Damien Derek's" said the woman

Red Ryder grabbed the envelope and opened it up, written on the inside was a riddle.

_In this building I must confess,  
>I knew you'd make it to this address.<em>

_Beat my puzzles, you must try,  
>but first find out what am I?<em>

_Me and blood aren't far apart,  
>my music always comes from the heart.<em>

_Figure this out and reach your goal,  
>try with all your Heart and Soul.<em>

_THE PUZZLER_

"Another clue by this Puzzler" said Red Ryder

"Puzzler?" asked the woman

"Yes, some person who's sending me on some wild goose chase, but I'm going to find him" said Red Ryder

Red Ryder then ran off, got on his bike and rode to the lab.

==Lab==

Angelo was waiting for Red Ryder to return, when he did, Red Ryder handed Angelo the riddle.

"What's this sir?" asked Angelo

"It's a riddle by this Puzzler character, luckily, I know where to go, I just need the equipment" said Red Ryder

Angelo looked at the riddle.

"In this building I must confess, I knew you'd make it to this address?" asked Angelo

"He wants me to go to the church" said Red Ryder

"How did you figure that out so fast?" asked Angelo

"I must CONFESS, as in a confessional, when I reach the church, I'll get in contact, when I do, read the rest of the riddle" said Red Ryder

Red Ryder hopped back on his motorcycle and rode off to the church.

==Church==

Red Ryder entered the church, it looked like no one had been in for years.

"Angelo, I'm in, what's the rest of the riddle?" asked Red Ryder

"The next line is 'Me and Blood aren't far apart, my music always comes from the heart.' but what does that mean?" asked Angelo

"It's obvious, the mention of music makes it seem like an instrument, the references to blood and the heart mean it's something that sounds like something related to them, the answer is an Organ" said Red Ryder

"Nice one sir, I was stumped on that one, the last line is 'Figure this out and reach your goal, Try with all your Heart and Soul'" said Angelo

"Of course, that's it" said Red Ryder

Red Ryder started playing the Organ, he was playing the song 'Heart and Soul', when he hit the final note of the chorus, a piece of paper that had been rolled up like a scroll flew out of one of the pipes.

"Got it" said Red Ryder

Red Ryder unrolled the paper and looked at what was written on it, it was map co-ordinates.

"Map Co-ordinates?" asked Red Ryder

Red Ryder hopped on his bike and rode to where the co-ordinates lead him, he wound up at a factory.

"A factory?" asked Red Ryder

Red Ryder entered the factory, inside there was a table in the centre of the room, on it was a cloth covering what was on the table. He removed the cloth and saw that all that was on the table was a Rubix Cube and a tape recorder, he turned on the tape recorder.

"_Hello there Red Ryder, I am the Puzzler, your newest adversary, you're making great progress on my little Scavenger Hunt, but the next puzzle is a tricky one, because you not only have to solve the puzzle, but find the clue within the puzzle, can you do it? Let's find out_" said the recording

Red Ryder picked up the Rubix Cube and returned to the lab.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm gonna stop there, now, I planned on making this all in one chapter, but since that would be too long, I've had to do it as a 2 parter.<strong>

**READ AND REVIEW**


	4. Very Puzzling Part 2

Hope you enjoy this chapter, also, from now on, whenever David is wearing the Red Ryder suit, I will just call him Red Ryder

Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics

* * *

><p>David was working on the Rubix Cube in the lab, he was almost finished.<p>

"Sir, aren't you a little old for those silly puzzle cubes?" asked Angelo

"This is the Puzzler's next clue, what I haven't found out is what happened to Damien Derek" said David

"Isn't that the robber who's jaw you broke?" asked Angelo

"The same one, he's went missing from his cell at the asylum, and the riddle was found on his bed" said David

==Hideout==

Eugene was in another room, Damien was in the main room waiting for him.

"Eugene, how much longer do we have to wait for Red Ryder? I'm getting bored" said Damien

"Patience Damien, patience, if I'm right, then Ryder is only up to my Rubix Puzzle, he needs to solve that and find the clue to proceed, my puzzles will wear him down mentally, when he reaches here, he'll be finished for sure, I've set 10 little games for him to play, in order to get here he'll need to solve all of them" said Eugene

Eugene entered the room, now he was dressed in a purple shirt, he was wearing purple tights, black gloves, black boots, a black belt, a purple Zorro mask and was wearing a purple cape, his entire attire was also covered in black letter Ps.

"What do you think?" asked Eugene

"What are you wearing Eugene?" asked Damien

"Oh no, not Eugene, when I wear this ensemble, call me, The Puzzler" said Eugene

"Not a bad name" said Damien

"Yes, and I've even thought up a name for you Damien, or should I call you, Overbite" said The Puzzler

"Call me that again and I'll snap you like a pencil" said Damien

"Fine, what would you like to be called then?" asked The Puzzler

Damien thought for a minute.

"I've got it, call me...RIPJAW" said Damien

"I like it, Ripjaw" said The Puzzler

==Lab==

David had just finished the Rubix Cube.

"Finished, but no clue" said David

"I wouldn't bet on it sir" said Angelo

David looked at one side of the cube and saw that there was writing on one side of the cube.

_You're getting close, good job._

_But this hunt hasn't finished, go to the local theatre for your next clue._

"The theatre? Is there some link to the destinations?" asked David

"Maybe, but for now, just head to the theatre, catch the Puzzler" said Angelo

David suited up and Red Ryder rode to the theatre on his Motorbike.

"What is the Puzzler after?" asked Red Ryder

Red Ryder arrived at the theatre, he walked in and saw a podium infront of the stage, a monitor activated, on it was a man with his back to the camera.

"Hello there Red Ryder, I am the Puzzler, I hope you're ready for my next game, curtain up..." said The Puzzler

The curtain opened, showing 3 caskets hanging from hooks.

"...here's how we play, inside the middle casket is Police Officer James Danielson, the other 2 are empty, these caskets will shuffle around, when they stop, you only have 1 minute to pull down as many caskets as you can before the incinerators below them will go off and burn whatever's above, get it, you either fail to get the caskets down in time, or if you pull down the wrong one, the Officer burns and you don't get the clue, good luck" said the Puzzler

The monitor switched off.

The 3 caskets shuffled around for about 2 minutes until they finally stopped, Ryder had 1 minute to get the officer to safety. He rushed and tacked the left casket, causing it to come off the hook, the second he did, the incinerators burned the other 2 caskets. The monitor came on again.

"Time's up Ryder, did you manage to save James? Let's find out" said the Puzzler

Ryder opened the casket and saw a man in police uniform, tied up in the casket.

"Red Ryder? You saved me" said the man

"Officer Danielson?" asked Red Ryder

"Yes, thank you" said James

"Look, a new villain called the Puzzler is sending me on a scavenger hunt to find him, he said he placed a clue in that casket with you" said Red Ryder

"All that was in there was this envelope" said James, handing Red Ryder the envelope

Red Ryder opened it up, inside was a map, with an X on it.

"That's the Rec. Centre, thank you Officer" said Red Ryder

"Thank YOU Ryder" said James

Red Ryder headed off to the Rec. Centre, he arrived, inside he found a sheet of paper on a table.

"What's this?" asked Red Ryder

The paper was just covered in random words. There was another sheet of paper, this one said 'Hope you know Origami'

"Origami?" asked Red Ryder

Red Ryder thought that over for a minute.

"That's it" said Red Ryder

Red Ryder took the paper that didn't mention origami and folded it into a swan, he looked at the writing on it now.

_WOW! How have you gotten this far, Red Ryder?_

_I'm amazed that you have been able 2 pass 6 of my little games, O well, might as well help you know where to go next._

_My next game is found at the old abandoned High School on Ambrose City Main Street, it's found in the Library, in my favourite section._

_Good Luck, The Puzzler_

_HINT: Roman_

"The old abandoned High School? There's no abandoned school in Ambrose City" said Red Ryder

==Lab==

David returned to the lab, Angelo was looking at the message left by Puzzler, he was just as stumped as David.

"Sir, I believe that this Puzzler fellow is cheating, there is no abandoned high school anywhere in Ambrose City, especially not on Main Street" said Angelo

"Exactly, I just can't figure out what it means, so far, all his clues have been legit, why cheat just now?" asked David

"I don't know sir" said Angelo

David went upstairs for a bit, to think, when he went into his bedroom, he grabbed some materials out of a draw and sat at a table with something under a cloth, it was a home-made model of Ambrose City, he started working on it, he had been working on it for months and it was nearly finished, after a few minutes, he noticed something.

"That's it" said David

==Hideout==

Puzzler was sitting in his throne, Ripjaw was pacing impatiently.

"God, how much longer is this going to take?" asked Ripjaw

"Patience Ripjaw, Patience, by now, Red Ryder has found out the solution to my Origami puzzle, I must say, that was a hard one for me to make, having to find the right way to phrase the solution" said Puzzler

==Lab==

David returned to the lab, Angelo was still thinking about what the answer to the puzzle could be.

"Angelo, I think I've found the answer" said David

"What is it sir?" asked Angelo

"The reason we couldn't find the answer is because we were thinking about it the wrong way, I was looking at my model of the city and I noticed another building, if you think about Puzzler's clue as being written in metaphors, then it fits perfectly, the answer is..." said David

==Later==

Red Ryder was on his motorcycle, he was riding to the next location Puzzler was sending him, he arrived at an apartment building on Main Street.

"_Here's the place_" thought Red Ryder

"Sir, I must ask, how did you figure it out?" asked Angelo

"Well, first, Puzzler called this building a High School, but he didn't mean that literally, a few years ago, one of Ambrose City's best minds, Dr Harris Rhodes, lived in these buildings, but rather than going to a normal high school, Dr Rhodes was home-schooled, so this was his own High School" said Ryder

"Nice one, plus there's the face that this place hasn't had any residents since that big fire 10 years ago" said Angelo

"Exactly, now to find the library" said Ryder

Red Ryder entered the building using a lock pick, he searched around the building for over an hour, until he noticed an apartment labelled '26 O'. Ryder got the clue out of a pouch on his belt, he was sure that this apartment was the right one, he used the lock pick to get in.

"Alright, now I need to find the library, but why would a single apartment have a library?" asked Ryder

Red Ryder searched through the Apartment, until he found a shelf of books.

"Of course, the resident's own book collection" said Ryder

Ryder couldn't see the books properly, he used a flashlight built into his utility belt, there were 5 books, Ryder had to think of which book was the right one, which took him half a second.

_Geography._

_US Presidents._

_Fairy Tales._

_World Records._

_Puzzles and Games._

Ryder grabbed the book and looked in it, finding a sheet of paper in the pages, Ryder used his flashlight to read the message.

_III-XV-XIV-VII-XVIII-I-XX-XXI-XII-I-XX-IX-XV-XIV-XIX XVIII-V-IV XVIII-XXV-IV-V-XVIII_

_XXV-XV-XXI IIX-I-XXII-V XIX-XXI-III-III-V-XIX-XIX-VI-XXI-XII-XII-XXV III-XVIII-I-III-XI-V-IV XIII-XXV III-XV-IV-V, XIV-XV-XX XII-XV-XIV-VII XX-XV VII-XV XIV-XV-XXIII, XXV-XV-XXI-XVIII XIV-V-XXIV-XX III-XII-XXI-V IX-XIX VI-XV-XXI-XIV-IV I-XX XX-IIX-V XIII-XXI-XIX-V-XXI-XIII, II-XXI-XX XX-XV VI-IX-XIV-IV IX-XX, XXV-XV-XXI IIX-I-XXII-V XX-XV XVIII-XXI-XIV IX-XIV XX-XV I VI-V-XXIII IV-V-I-IV V-XIV-IV-XIX_

_VII-XV-XV-IV XII-XXI-III-XI, XX-IIX-V XVI-XXI-XXVI-XXVI-XII-V-XVIII_

"What is this?" asked Red Ryder

==Lab==

Red Ryder returned to the lab, he had no idea what the message was.

"Welcome back sir, did you find the next clue?" asked Angelo

"Yes Angelo, but it's written in code, and I can't crack it" said Ryder

"Maybe there was a hint or clue in one of the other clues" said Angelo

"That's it, Angelo, you're a genius, the previous clue said that it was giving me a hint, and that hint was 'Roman', and all these are in Roman Numerals" said Ryder

"That's true sir, but Roman Numerals are Roman Numbers, not letters" said Angelo

"I know, so it must be a code within a code, now, if I replace each numeral with it's corresponding number, it should come out as this..." said Ryder

_3-15-14-7-18-1-20-21-12-1-20-9-15-14-19 18-5-4 18-25-4-5-18_

_25-15-21 8-1-22-5 19-21-3-3-5-19-19-6-21-12-12-25 3-18-1-3-11-5-4 13-25 3-15-4-5, 14-15-20 12-15-14-7 20-15 7-15 14-15-23, 25-15-21-18 14-5-24-20 3-12-21-5 9-19 6-15-21-14-4 1-20 20-8-5 13-21-19-5-21-13, 2-21-20 20-15 6-9-14-4 9-20, 25-15-21 8-1-22-5 20-15 18-21-14 9-14 20-15 1 6-5-23 4-5-1-4 5-14-4-19_

_7-15-15-4 12-21-3-11, 20-8-5 16-21-26-26-12-5-18_

"But like I said sir, that's still just numbers" said Angelo

"True, but if I replace the numbers with their corresponding letter, then that should spell out the correct message" said Ryder

_CONGRATULATIONS RED RYDER_

_YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY CRACKED MY CODE, NOT LONG TO GO NOW, YOUR NEXT CLUE IS FOUND AT THE MUSEUM, BUT TO FIND IT, YOU HAVE TO RUN IN TO A FEW DEAD ENDS_

_GOOD LUCK, THE PUZZLER_

"Run in to a few dead ends?" asked Angelo

"I know what he's doing, he's sending me to the maze located in the museum" said Red Ryder

==Later==

Red Ryder arrived at the museum, but he needed to locate the maze.

==Hideout==

"Don't you just love the suspense, not knowing when he'll walk through that door?" asked The Puzzler

"Nope, I just want to take him down right now" said Ripjaw

"Ripjaw, tell me, what did you use to do for a living?" asked Puzzler

"I was a local Wrestler, and a pretty good one too, but after the company went bankrupt, I was out of a job, what did you do for a living?" asked Ripjaw

"I don't want to talk about it" said Puzzler

==Museum==

Red Ryder had just exited the maze, with the next clue in hand.

_Nice one Ryder!_

_You're one step closer to finding me, can't you just taste it?  
>Anyway, getting back to the point, your final clue is found in the home of one<br>of Ambrose City's current most respected members of the Police._

_Hope you find it, The Puzzler_

"Francis, the final clue is at Francis' place" said Ryder

==Hideout==

"Hm! By now, Red Ryder has figured out where the final clue is and is on his way over there right now" said The Puzzler

"I'm getting impatient Puzzler, if he's not here quick enough, I'm tempted to test this headgear on you!" said Ripjaw

"Don't worry Ripjaw, he'll be here sooner than you think, you just need to wait for just a little while longer" said Puzzler

==Meanwhile==

Red Ryder had arrived at Francis' house, he snuck through an open window and found himself in Francis' bedroom, luckily, Francis was out tonight.

"Alright, if I was a clue, where would I be?" asked Red Ryder

Red Ryder searched through the entire house, until he found a blue envelope with a black 'P' on the front, he opened the envelope and read what was inside.

_You're good Ryder, I'll give you that_  
><em>But you're not finished just yet.<em>

_This hunt ends at the old warehouse_  
><em>just outside the city<em>

_Be Quick,_

_The Puzzler_

"The old warehouse?" asked Red Ryder

Red Ryder heard the sound of a door opening and quickly made himself scarce, when he was gone, Francis entered the house. When Ryder was outside, he looked inside the envelope, and found something that looked like an invitation.

==Warehouse==

The Puzzler was sitting in his throne. Ripjaw was extremely impatient now.

"WHERE IS HE?!" asked Ripjaw

"Just hold your horses Ripjaw, the Ambrose City Hero should be here shortly, by now he's solved the final puzzle and is on his way over here, until then..." said Puzzler

The Puzzler pressed a button on his staff and a chair emerged out of the floor near Puzzler's throne.

"...take a seat" said Puzzler

Ripjaw didn't sit down, instead, he left the room.

==Outside==

Outside the warehouse, Red Ryder just pulled up on his motorcycle.

"Here I am, time to figure out who this Puzzler is" said Red Ryder

Red Ryder approached the front door, only to be stopped by 2 guards, Red Ryder showed them the invitation and they let him past. Red Ryder continued the same process until he found himself inside the main room, he saw a throne facing away from him.

"Where are you Puzzler?" asked Red Ryder

"Why, I'm right in front of you" said Puzzler

The throne turned around and saw the Puzzler.

"Hello Ryder, you know me, clearly" said Puzzler

"So you're the Puzzler?" asked Ryder

"Oh, you better believe it, the smartest man alive, an IQ that would rival even Steven Hawking" said Puzzler

"What are you even doing? Why send me on a wild goose chase?" asked Ryder

"Wild Goose Chase? Oh, no no no no, if this was a wild goose chase, you wouldn't have found yourself here, this was no goose chase, this was a scavenger hunt, and well done on solving all 10 of my puzzles" said Puzzler

"What? 10? There were only 9 puzzles" said Ryder

"9? Oh that's right, I've only given you 9, oh well, that's because there's one more puzzle, OH BUDDY!" said Puzzler

Ripjaw entered the room.

"You!" said Ryder

"Surprised Ryder? I set him free the same day I gave you that Jigsaw Puzzle" said Puzzler

"How did you know my address?" asked Ryder

"Because Ryder, I know who you are beneath the mask, but enough on that later..." said Puzzler

Puzzler pressed a button on his staff and the floor began to open up, revealing a series of white panels with a bunch of symbols on them.

"Ripjaw, for this final puzzle, please take a seat" said Puzzler

Ripjaw sat on the chair from before, and a series of metal restraints trapped him into the chair.

"What's going on here?" asked Ripjaw

"Hope you've got a good memory Ryder, because for this game, you need one, see if you can find the right symbols to get to the other side of the room, be careful however, the wrong panel will result in a slight penalty, you have 10 minutes, and I'll see you later" said Puzzler

Puzzler pressed another button on his staff and the roof opened, a helicopter was flying overhead, it dropped a ladder which Puzzler used to get out.

"SO LONG RYDER!" said Puzzler

"TRAITOR" said Ripjaw

The timer began, Ryder looked at the series of symbols, there were 9 of them, a blue envelope, a Church, a Rubix Cube, a Jigsaw Piece, a Casket, an Origami Swan, a letter 'V', a Maze and a black letter 'P'.

"That's it, these symbols all represent the different parts of the scavenger hunt, the first game was a Jigsaw Puzzle" said Ryder

Ryder stepped onto a panel with a Jigsaw piece and it turned from white to green.

"Next was a riddle, which I received inside a blue envelope" said Ryder

Ryder stepped on the panel with a blue envelope and the panel turned green.

"That Riddle lead me to the Church" said Ryder

Ryder stepped on the panel and it turned green.

"Come on, can't you just use a grappling hook or something?" asked Ripjaw

"There's nothing to grapple in this room" said Ryder

Ryder then stepped on the Rubix Cube and the panel turned green.

"Alright, the next game involved Caskets, so..." said Ryder

Ryder stepped on a panel with a casket and the panel turned green. He followed with the Origami Swan and the Letter V, both turned green.

"Then there was the maze" said Ryder

Ryder stepped on the maze panel and the panel turned green. Ryder stepped on a panel with a P on it and it turned green.

"Yes" said Ryder

Ryder stepped off the panels and ran to Ripjaw, he was able to get him out of the chair by using a lockpick.

"Thanks for that Ryder" said Ripjaw

Ryder quickly placed a set of handcuffs on Ripjaw

"What are you doing?" asked Ripjaw

"You're still going back to jail for the attempted robbery" said Ryder

"Fair Enough, but I'm still coming after you when I get out" said Ripjaw

"Tell Me, where is the Puzzler going?" asked Ryder

"I don't know, he never told me about this part of the plan" said Ripjaw

==The Next Day==

David was in the lounge, he was watching TV.

"_And just yesterday, Red Ryder was able to recapture Damien Derek, now requesting to be called 'Ripjaw', Red Ryder and several witnesses mentioned that Ripjaw was working with an accomplice, however, Red Ryder could not capture him and the accomplice got away, more on this story as it develops_" said the news anchor

"Well, Ripjaw is behind bars, but Puzzler got away" said David

"Sir, aren't you worried about the Puzzler saying that he knows your true identity?" asked Angelo

"Nah, he can't know that I'm Red Ryder, that's impossible" said David

==Meanwhile==

The Puzzler was inside a dark room, he was doing something at a table.

"So, you solved my final puzzle? Oh well, I'll be able to get you next time" said Puzzler

The Puzzler quickly turned around and tossed a dagger at a dartboard, on the dartboard was a picture of David.

* * *

><p><strong>That's it for this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it.<strong>

**QUESTION: Why do you think The Puzzler doesn't like David?**

**READ AND REVIEW**


	5. Tick, Tock Part 1

Here is the newest chapter with the newest villain.

Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics

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><p>A man was running through the streets with a sack in hand, Red Ryder was hot in pursuit.<p>

"Come back here you thief" said Ryder

"Come get me, Ryder" said the man

The 2 keep chasing each other until the thief trips and twists his ankle.

"Elvis Armstrong, your under arrest for theft" said Ryder, putting a pair of handcuffs on Elvis

Police arrived to take Elvis to prison.

==Later==

David was in the mansion, Angelo was watching the news report on Ryder's successful arrest.

"Well done on another job well done Master David" said Angelo

"Thank you Angelo" said David

==Meanwhile==

In a dark room, the sound of clocks can be heard.

"Oh yes, oh yes, everything is going according to plan, DUNCAN!" yelled a mysterious man

Another man entered the room.

"Yes boss?" asked the man

"Go out for a bit, cause some mischief, bring out the Ryder" said the first man

"I'll get right on it boss" said Duncan

==Later==

David was in the lab working on his martial arts skills when he heard the alarm going off.

"Uh oh, trouble" said David

David pressed a button and grabbed the Red Ryder suit and got changed, Angelo prepared the glider.

"Ready sir?" asked Angelo

"Ready" said Red Ryder

"3...2...1!" said Angelo

Ryder was launched out the window, he grabbed the glider and looked over the city, his communicator went off and Commissioner Andrews contacted him.

"_Ryder, we got a man threatening to blow up the clock tower_" said Andrews

"Got it, I'm on my way" said Ryder

Ryder arrived at the clock tower and saw a man wielding a detonator in his hand, he glided down and dropkicked the man through the door.

"Ah Red Ryder, I've been expecting you" said the man

"I hereby place you under arrest" said Ryder

"You can try...but you have to catch me first" said the man, before running off

Ryder chased the man through the clock tower, ending with the man going to the top room.

"Come back here, and take your punishment like a man" said Red Ryder

Ryder entered the top room and was a bit confused by what he saw, 3 men standing in front of him, each of them dressed in dark green wearing clock masks, they kept repeating "Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock" after 5 seconds, the room went dark, when the lights came back on, the 3 men were gone, but the man Ryder was chasing stood right before him.

"Nowhere else to go, I surrender" said the man

Ryder arrested the man and took the glider back to the mansion, on the way back, he heard static interference coming from his communicator, before someone seemed to talk to him.

"_Hello Ryder_" said the voice

"Who is this?" asked Ryder

"_Oh, allow me to introduce myself, my name is Jebediah Toll, I hear you took down a friend of mine, I really don't appreciate that, I was inviting him to a party next week_" said the voice

"This is no time for jokes Jebediah" said Ryder

"_Wow, I can tell that you and I are going to have so much fun_" said Jebediah

Ryder's communicator turned off after that.

==Later==

"Oh no, Red Ryder has had my friend, Duncan, thrown into the slammer, oh whoa is me, whoa is me" said Jebediah

"Sir, what should we do now?" asked one of Jebediah's assistants

"Oh, good question, and I know the perfect answer..." said Jebediah

Jebediah grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and wrote something down.

"Go to this address, I'll contact you and give you instructions from there" said Jebediah

"Yes Boss" said Jebediah's assistant

==The Next Day==

Red Ryder was patrolling the street from the tops of buildings, when his communicator went off.

"_Hello once again, Red Ryder, it's me, Jebediah, how've you been?_" asked Jebediah

"Oh good grief Jebediah" said Ryder

"_Now, now, be nice, you wouldn't want to put her in danger, would you?_" asked Jebediah

"What are you talking about?" asked Red Ryder

"_Oh, it's simple really, let her tell you herself_" said Jebediah

"_HELP ME, PLEASE, SOMEONE, HELP ME!_" screamed a woman

"Let her go Jebediah" said Ryder

"_Um...no, not yet anyway, I will let her go when the TIME is right_" said Jebediah

Red Ryder took the chance to trace the signal

"_Good luck trying to find her Ryder, you'll never find me, I guess you'll have to wait until my party_" said Jebediah

Jebediah hung up after that, but Ryder had already traced the signal and knew exactly where to go.

"Perfect" said Ryder

Ryder headed to the location of the signal, he found himself at a corner shop in the city, surrounded by security.

"Huh, how can I take them down?" asked Ryder

Ryder got an idea and grabbed a small pellet from his utility belt and threw it at the guards, the pellet created a vapour that temporarily blinded the guards, giving Ryder the perfect chance to knock them out. After Ryder took down the guards, he looked up at the sign of the building he found himself in, it was a clock shop. He opened the door and heard a conversation on the other side of a wall.

"My god, look at this place, Ryder should be here soon, and this place is filthy, Sam, get a broom and clean this place up" said Jebediah

"Yes sir" said Sam

"Ah, it is nice being in charge of this, my god, when I was young, no one ever listened to Jebediah, they just labelled him as the little boy who loved his clocks, but now, it's time I get some respect" said Jebediah

Red Ryder used the vents to get to the other room where he quickly knocked out 2 of Jebediah's guards.

"It's Ryder, GET HIM!" said Jebediah

Jebediah's guards charged at Ryder, but Ryder was able to fight them off, after he took them all down, he turned his attention to Jebediah and got his first good look at the man, he was shorter than average in height, he had blonde hair and was wearing a green and brown suit, some of his accessories, such as his belt, and parts of his hat, were based on clocks.

"Oh dear" said Jebediah

"Where is she Jebediah?" asked Ryder

"Who?" asked Jebediah

Ryder grabbed Jebediah by the throat and pinned him against the wall

"I'm not playing games Jebediah, where is the girl?" asked Ryder

"You know, I'm really not feeling this 'Jebediah', I want a new name" said Jebediah

"What?" asked Ryder, confused as to what Jebediah was talking about

"From now on, call me...Clockwork" said Jebediah

"Very well, Clockwork, where's the girl?" asked Ryder

"What girl?" asked Clockwork

"I'm serious Clockwork, where is the girl?" asked Ryder

"Now, now, no need to be impatient, maybe you just need to some suggestion, tick tock, watch the CLOCK!" said Clockwork

Half a second later, the big clock on Clockwork's hat started to accelerate, seeming to send Ryder into a trance, before Ryder fell to the ground.

A little while later, Ryder found himself in some weird forest.

"Where am I?" asked Ryder

In a cloud of smoke, Clockwork appeared infront of him.

"Welcome to my enchanted forest, Red Ryder, I trust you are going to have a lot of fun here, you see, you were early to my party, and we couldn't have that, now, could we? I'm just going to keep you here until everything is ready" said Clockwork

Ryder attempted to punch Clockwork, but Clockwork disappeared in a cloud of dust before impact and reappeared behind Ryder.

"Missed me" said Clockwork

Ryder tried to punch Clockwork again, but it just ended with the same result.

"Missed me again" said Clockwork

Ryder tried a third time, but this time was no different.

"Wow, you are really not good at this, are you?" asked Clockwork before giggling.

Clockwork disappeared again, this time, he reappeared in the sky as a giant.

"Good luck trying to get out of my forest Red Ryder, not like you will" said Clockwork

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><p><strong>That does it for this chapter, I know it's a little shorter than usual but I hope you enjoyed it, also, what do you think of the newest villain?<strong>

**READ AND REVIEW**


	6. Tick, Tock Part 2

We return to Ryder trapped in Clockwork's enchanted forest

Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics

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><p>Red Ryder was really confused right now, he was trapped inside a forest with no idea where to go, he just started walking and quickly found himself facing a gate, the pillars at both ends of the gate had Clockwork's head sculpted at the top out of marble.<p>

"What is going on?" asked Ryder

Ryder opened the gates and continued to move, finding himself at a bridge.

"This seems a bit too easy to escape from" said Ryder

Ryder stepped on the bridge and got an electric shock.

"What the hell?" asked Ryder

Ryder didn't see it before, but the bridge had been divided into three panels, and one was electrocuted, the electrocuted panel kept alternating every few seconds, after the panel stopped being electrocuted, Ryder stepped on it, he kept this up until he was at the other end of the bridge, but there was no land at the other end, just a really big gap with a giant keyhole at the other side with 6 lanterns, 3 either side.

"I know what to do here" said Ryder

Ryder activated his crossbow and readied an arrow, before shooting it at one of the lanterns and smashing it, then pressing a button on his glove to retract the arrow.

"_Ah, I see you've solved this puzzle Ryder_" said a voice over

"Jebediah, when I get out of here, I'm going to make you wish you were never born" said Ryder

"_I told you, it's not Jebediah anymore, it's Clockwork, anyway, there's a reason why I've brought you here, other than the party, you see, the girl, she's an old friend of mine, but people are conspiring to take her away from me, I can't have that now, can I?_" asked Clockwork

"You're dead meat, Jebediah" said Ryder

"_IT'S CLOCKWORK_" said Clockwork

Ryder shot down the other 5 lanterns and the keyhole dropped down like a drawbridge.

"_Well done Ryder, now, keep going, I actually need your help to protect the girl from those horrible, horrible people_" said Clockwork

"You're crazy Clockwork" said Ryder

"_I will admit to that_" said Clockwork

Ryder walked past the drawbridge and saw himself facing another bridge just like the one before, he repeated the same process from before and encountered another gap, he tried to jump it, he grabbed onto a ledge and shimmied his way across until he was back on solid ground, he climbed a wall and was face to face with a giant crow, when it flew off, Ryder marched on, he climbed through a hole and fell down a pit, he landed inside a large room, the floor seemed to look like a chess board, there were 3 doors, each one with a painting above them, the left and right paintings were paintings of fields with nothing else, the middle painting was a painting of the same field, but with a knight standing in the field.

"_Oh dear, oh dear, you've gotten yourself all turned around, which way is in, which is out, oh good lord, what's the route?_" asked Clockwork

Ryder entered the left door and found himself entering the same room through the right door.

"What the hell?" asked Ryder

Ryder tried the middle door this time, he found himself in the same room again, entering through the left door, but now, the knight was in the right painting.

"This whole place is weird" said Ryder

Red Ryder tried the door on the right, and once again, found himself in the same room, entering through the middle door, this time, the knight was in the left painting.

"Oh, that's it" said Ryder

Ryder went through the left door and he found himself in a different room.

"_Well done, you figured it out, but it drained you a bit didn't it, that's something you can't afford_" said Clockwork

The room Ryder was in seemed like the end of a hallway, there was no one here, one wall was just a big mirror.

"What's going on here?" asked Ryder

Suddenly, Ryder got hit in the back with a chair, but there was no one in the room to have hit him with it.

"What was that?" asked Ryder

Ryder looked in the mirror wall and saw an entire army of Clockwork's henchmen.

"Smart thinking" said Ryder

One of Clockwork's henchmen charged at Ryder, however, Ryder was able to counter their attack and elbow him in the back, followed by punching him in the head to knock him down, a second henchman carrying a steel pipe tried to attack Ryder, but Ryder grabbed the pipe and elbowed them in the face before snatching away the pipe.

"Nice try" said Ryder

Ryder went back to the first henchman and continued to hammer away at his mid section before knocking him unconscious with an uppercut.

"_Careful there, you might regret your actions_" said Clockwork

Ryder used a modified grappling hook to pull the other henchman towards him before sweeping his leg and slamming him to the ground.

"You're gonna regret messing with me" said Ryder

3 more henchmen tried to attack Ryder, but Ryder was able to fight all 3 of them off. After Ryder has took them all down, the mirror wall smashed and Ryder found himself facing a door, which he went through, finding himself in another hallway, there were windows that showed glass mosaics of Clockwork.

"_Incase you're wondering why those men do my bidding, I'm a bit of an inventor, I invented a brilliant mind control device, with weaker minds, it works extremely well, stick the machine on them and, BOOM, they do as I wish, however, stronger willed minds, such as yours, they need to be broken down first_" said Clockwork

"_Why would Clockwork tell me that?_" thought Ryder

Ryder ran down the hallway and found himself blocked off by a wall, he grabbed something out of his utility belt and stuck it on the wall, before stepping back and pressing a button on his glove and the device exploded, taking away the wall with it, allowing Ryder to pass through, he found himself facing a river near a waterfall.

"I can't get across this, I'll need to contact Angelo" said Ryder

Ryder attempted to use his communicator, but all he heard was static.

"Angelo?...Hello, Angelo, do you copy?" asked Ryder

No response.

"Damn, wait, I've got an idea" said Ryder

Ryder grabbed something from his belt and threw it into the water and some sort of raft formed from it, he grabbed a stick and rowed himself to the other side.

"I'm coming for you Clockwork" said Ryder

Ryder walked through a door and he was at another odd location, he was on a small area of ground near a wall with nowhere to go, until he started climbing the wall and wound up at another platform.

"CLOCKWORK! You're wasting your time!" said Ryder

Ryder did the same thing when he reached the platform and found himself at a third, this time, rather than needing to climb the wall again, he just climbed a ladder at the platform. Ryder reached the top but found himself with nowhere to go, he could see where he was meant to be going but it was at the other end of a path that was about 200 feet away.

"Man, Clockwork doesn't want me to leave, luckily, I know what to do" said Ryder

Ryder grabbed a gadget out of one of the pouches of his utility belt, he raised it into the air and 2 wires shot out from both sides of the gadget, he then proceeded to zip line across until he reached the path and Clockwork formed infront of him.

"Tell me Ryder, what do you see before you? Does it scare you? Does it fill you with fear?" asked Clockwork

"Clockwork, you should know that nothing can scare me, but you should be scared of what's going to happen to you when I get out of here" said Ryder

"Please Red, I know you won't kill me, plus, if you hope to get out of here, you'd need to run really fast" said Clockwork

"What are you talking about?" asked Ryder

Clockwork pointed behind Ryder and Ryder turned around, he saw a pendulum blade destroying the path, one section at a time, and it was heading straight for Ryder. Ryder clicked his boots together and activated their rollerblade mode and rollerbladed to the other end of the path, finding himself at the door.

"If I were you Clockwork, I wouldn't have warned me about that" said Ryder

Ryder passed through the door and found himself inside what appeared to be the inside of a clock tower.

"_No, no, no, this is wrong, wrong, all wrong, upside down, inside out, back to front and wrong, wrong, wrong!_" said Clockwork

Ryder pulled out his grappling hook and used it to reach a door at the top of the tower, he opened the door and walked through.

"_HEY! You better stop what your doing, you play by MY rules down here, you hear me? MY RULES_" said Clockwork

Ryder found himself facing a long gap, he easily jumped it and was on another platform, with a balance beam being the only thing separating it from the third, Ryder was quickly able to get across.

"_Cut it out Ryder, I'm warning you_" said Clockwork

Ryder was faced with another gap and was able to jump it again, he opened the door he faced and found himself back inside the clock tower, he used an explosive to destroy the clock face and was able to get to a set of rafters, he walked across them like a balance beam.

"_YOU! You've ruined everything, my party has been crashed, you won't co operate, you've beaten up my guests and we never even got to cut the cake, that's it, you're off the guest list, I think you should leave, actually, I DEMAND THAT YOU LEAVE!_" said Clockwork

Ryder was able to use the rafters to reach another platform, there was a ladder leading to a trap door, Ryder was able to climb the ladder and get out through the trap door, he was back inside Jebediah's clock shop, infront of Ryder was Clockwork holding a knife to his hostage's throat.

"HELP ME!" said the girl

"Don't worry, he can save you, all he has to do is leave, I'm just surprised that he made it out of my forest" said Clockwork

"Clockwork, I never was in a forest" said Ryder

"Of course you were" said Clockwork

"No, I wasn't, you said you were an inventor, and you created a mind control device, well, why would you brag about it, you used that mind control device on my in an attempt to make me think I was in a forest" said Ryder

Clockwork seemed a bit annoyed. Ryder reached behind his back and activated something on his gloves.

"Well done Ryder, you've figured it out, but that doesn't change the face that if you don't leave then this girl dies" said Clockwork

"I don't think so" said Ryder

Ryder held his hand out and the knife in Clockwork's hand flew towards Ryder, Ryder was able to catch it.

"How did you do that?" asked Clockwork

"Magnetism mode built into my gauntlets" said Ryder

Ryder grabbed his grappling hook and used it to pull in Clockwork, forcing him to release his grip on the girl, when Clockwork was close enough, Ryder quickly kicked him in the jaw to knock him out. Ryder then turned his attention to Clockwork's hostage.

"Are you alright?" asked Ryder

"Yeah...I'm fine" said the girl

"What's your name?" asked Ryder

"Staci, my name is Staci" said the girl

"Don't worry Staci, I'll contact the police to get this man arrested, then they'll get you home" said Ryder

"Thank you" said Staci

Later, the police arrived to arrest Clockwork, Francis was talking to Staci.

"Anything else?" asked Francis

"No, that's all, he kidnapped me, threatened to kill me, but I was saved by Red Ryder" said Staci

"Well, at least you're alright, now, let's get you home" said Francis

==Meanwhile==

David had returned home, Angelo was waiting.

"Ah sir, you're back, for some reason, you wouldn't answer my messages" said Angelo

"Sorry, I wasn't getting a signal" said David

"So, I take it you caught the man" said Angelo

"Yeah, now I have another enemy" said David

"Oh well, it could be worse" said Angelo

"Yeah, well, at least I got him" said David

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><p><strong>That does it for this edition, I hope you enjoyed it, let me know what you think about each of the villains so far.<strong>

**READ AND REVIEW**


	7. Fire Away Part 1

Time for our newest instalment.

Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics

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><p>David was inside the mansion, he didn't get any sleep last night due to a movie that was being made nearby, the special effects had kept him awake.<p>

"Morning Sir, you don't look so good" said Angelo

"I know Angelo, the sound effects from that movie set have kept me up for the past 3 days" said David

"Well, luckily, they're almost done shooting the movie, they should be finished by Monday" said Angelo

"Hey, Angelo, how come you don't seem tired?" asked David

"Growing up, my neighbour always listened to heavy metal music at full volume at 3 in the morning, I got so used to it that now loud noises actually help me sleep" said Angelo

"Lucky you then" said David

The alarm went off and Angelo and David rushed to the lab, where David got changed into Red Ryder.

"What's the situation?" asked Ryder

"Ah, it's the movie set, apparently someone's threatening to kill the producer" said Angelo

"I'm on it" said Ryder

Ryder hopped on the cycle and rode off. He arrived at the movie set, he saw the producer's office but didn't know how to get there, if the person behind this saw Ryder coming, they would kill the producer.

"I need to think this through" said Ryder

Ryder took a few moments to think things through, and finally came up with a plan, he used the backdrops of the movie to mask his route until he reached the back door of the producer's office, however, if he just opened it, the criminal would see him coming.

"_If I just walk in then the criminal would kill the producer, I need to think of something else, wait, that's it_" thought Ryder

Ryder grabbed a gadget from his belt and threw it, he was then able to use his gauntlets to control it's direction, he redirected the gadget to hit the front door of the office, causing the criminal to check on the sound out of curiosity.

"_Now's my chance_" thought Ryder

Ryder slowly opened the back door to make sure it didn't make a sound, when he was in, he grabbed another gadget, when the criminal turned back around, Ryder threw the gadget, causing it to explode, giving off a sticky substance that stuck the criminal's feet to the floor, preventing him from moving.

"You're under arrest" said Ryder

"Thank you Ryder" said the producer

"No problem sir, what was all this about anyway?" asked Ryder

"This man tried to audition to star in the movie, but we didn't cast him" said the producer

"That's what this whole thing was about?" asked Ryder

"I'm afraid so, sorry for wasting your time Red Ryder" said the producer

"It's alright, I just wish you kept the special effects down during the night, I've barely gotten any sleep" said Ryder

"Oh, we're sorry about that mister Ryder, actually, I'm afraid we need to fire our special effects man due to budget cuts" said the producer

"I'm sorry to hear that, I better get this man to the police, I'll see you around" said Ryder

"You too" said the producer

Ryder took out a pair of handcuffs and placed them on the criminal, before spraying the sticky substance that was sticking the criminal's feet to the floor and walking off. Later, the producer walked up to a man working at a computer.

"Hello Lloyd" said the producer

"Hello boss, what can I do for you?" asked Lloyd

"Nothing anymore, look Lloyd, due to budget cuts, I'm afraid that we can't afford to keep you on" said the producer

"What? But what about the special effects?" asked Lloyd

"Luckily we should have enough to finish the movie without any more" said the producer

"This can't be happening" said Lloyd

"I'm sorry to see you go Lloyd" said the producer, before walking away

==Later==

Ryder returned to the Lab after getting the criminal behind bars.

"Welcome back sir, I trust the mission was a success?" asked Angelo

"Yes it was, I also have some good news and some bad news" said Ryder

"What is it?" asked Angelo

"The good news is that I should be getting some more sleep now" said Ryder

"What's the bad news?" asked Angelo

"The movie had to fire their special effects expert" said Ryder

"Oh, he must be devastated" said Angelo

"Yeah, but I'm sure he'll bounce back" said Ryder

==Meanwhile==

Lloyd was in his apartment building, he was sitting on his bed twiddling his thumbs.

"I can't believe this, how could they do this to me? They can't just fire me like that, well I'll show them, I'll show them all" said Lloyd

Lloyd stood up and grabbed a box from under his bed.

==The Next Day==

Ryder had returned to the movie set, he wanted to see how the producer was doing after what happened yesterday, he entered the producer's office.

"Ah, hello Ryder, what can I do for you?" asked the producer

"Nothing, I just wanted to see if everything was alright after what happened yesterday" said Ryder

"Oh, everything's alright" said the producer

"How did the special effects guy handle being let go?" asked Ryder

"Ah, he was pretty upset, but I'm sure he's fine" said the producer

There was a knock at the door, Ryder opened it to show Lloyd.

"Oh, hello Lloyd" said the producer

"Hello Mister Arnold" said Lloyd

"Ryder, this is Lloyd Chester, he was our special effects expert, until, well, you know..." said Mr Arnold

"Ah, yeah, I heard" said Ryder

"Lloyd, what are you doing here?" asked Mr Arnold

"I came to pick up my last pay check, if that's alright with you" said Lloyd

"Of course" said Mr Arnold

Later, after Lloyd received his pay check, he left, but not before sneaking some stuff from the set.

==That Night==

Lloyd was in his apartment, he was working on something on his table.

"Fire me, will you? Well, not it's your turn" said Lloyd

Lloyd inspected the object he was working on, revealing it to be a modified helmet that bared a resemblance to the helmets worn by the United States Air Force.

==Later==

A man is seen walking through the streets at 3 o'clock in the morning, closer inspection revealed that the man was carrying a gun of some sorts. The man stopped outside a house and aimed his gun at it, when he pulled the trigger, it was revealed that the gun was actually a flame thrower.

==The Next Morning==

David was still asleep, the alarm went off to wake him up, he rushed to his study and took the secret entrance to the lab, he quickly got changed to his Red Ryder suit and took the Ryder-Cycle when he received a communication from Francis.

"_Hello Ryder_" said Francis

"Hello Commissioner, what seems to be the problem?" asked Ryder

"Someone burned down someone's house last night" said Francis

"I'm on my way, what's the address?" asked Ryder

"332 Reigns Drive" said Francis

Later on, Ryder arrived at the house.

"My god" said Ryder

"Ah Ryder, so glad you could make it, late last night, someone torched the entire house, the only thing that wasn't destroyed were some items found inside the resident's fire proof safe" said Francis

"What about the actual resident?" asked Ryder

"The owner of the home is fine, luckily, he wasn't in the house when it was torched" said Francis

"Where is the owner?" asked Ryder

Francis pointed over to the owner of the house, it was Mr Arnold. Red Ryder walked over to him.

"Mr Arnold?" asked Ryder

"Oh, hello Ryder" said Mr Arnold

"This was your house?" asked Ryder

"It was, looks like someone is really out to get me" said Mr Arnold

Ryder noticed a file clenched in Mr Arnold's hand.

"Mr Arnold, can I see that file?" asked Ryder

"Sure" said Mr Arnold, handing Red Ryder the file, it was a file on Lloyd

"A file on Lloyd? Why do you have this?" asked Ryder

"Well, when I came home to see it burned down, it was lying in the middle of the room" said Mr Arnold

"Mr Arnold, after Lloyd picked up his pay check the other day, did anything odd happen?" asked Ryder

"Yes actually, a couple of props that we were using went missing" said Mr Arnold

"Really?" asked Ryder

"Yes, do you think Lloyd did this?" asked Mr Arnold

"I think so" said Ryder

Francis walked over to Ryder.

"Hey, Red Ryder, we've got another one" said Francis

"What is it?" asked Ryder

"Another house has been burned down downtown" said Francis

"On it" said Ryder

Red Ryder quickly hopped on his motorcycle and rode off, arriving at another house that had been burned down.

"Oh my god" said Ryder

Ryder noticed a woman standing outside the house staring at the burned remains. Ryder walked over to her.

"Excuse me miss" said Ryder

"Red Ryder? It's nice to meet you, are you here about the person that burned down my house?" asked the woman

"Yes, I am, tell me miss, what is your name?" asked Ryder

"Lillian" said the woman

"Lillian, does the name Lloyd Chester ring any bells?" asked Ryder

"Yes actually, he's my ex, I dated him 2 years ago, why?" asked Lillian

"He's a suspect in a similar arson attack not far from here, Lillian, do you mind if I look around the house?" asked Ryder

"Go ahead" said Lillian

Ryder went in the house and looked around, he went to Lillian's bedroom and saw a safe that hadn't been damaged in the fire, Ryder tried to open it but it didn't work, he needed a code to unlock it.

"Huh! Maybe my De-Coder can get this open" said Ryder

Ryder reached into one of the pouches on his utility belt and pulled out the De-Coder, it was a small device with 2 small joysticks on it. Ryder turned on the De-Coder and started moving the joysticks around, quickly, a 4 digit number appeared on the screen of the De-Coder and the safe unlocked, Ryder reached inside the safe and grabbed some of the contents, but all that was inside were some photographs of Lillian and Lloyd.

"Why would Lillian keep photos of her with her Ex?" asked Ryder

Ryder went outside with some of the photographs, he walked up to Lillian

"Excuse me, Lillian, is there any reason why you're keeping these photographs?" asked Ryder, showing Lillian the photos

"I didn't keep them, Lloyd took them when we broke up" said Lillian

"Then why were they in your safe?" asked Ryder

"What are you talking about? I don't own a safe" said Lillian

==Later that night==

Red Ryder had returned to the lab, he was analysing the photographs, hoping to find something that would help him find Lloyd.

"Any luck, sir?" asked Angelo

"So far, I've got squat, actually, not even that much" said Ryder

==Meanwhile==

Mr Arnold was staying in a hotel, he had just made it to his room, when he closed the door, he could have swore he heard footsteps inside his hotel room.

"Who's there?" asked Mr Arnold

Mr Arnold grabbed a gun from a set of drawers and began to search the place, when he found nothing, he checked the bathroom, that was when someone snuck up behind him and injected him with something that caused Mr Arnold to pass out.

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><p><strong>That's all for this chapter, I hope that you enjoyed reading it.<strong>

**READ AND REVIEW**


	8. Fire Away Part 2

Time for our newest instalment.

Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics

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><p>Red Ryder was still trying to find anything that would help him find Lloyd, still nothing.<p>

"Anything yet sir?" asked Angelo

"Still nothing" said Ryder

Just then, Ryder received something through his communicator.

"_Hello Ryder_" said the person on the other end

"Who is this?" asked Ryder

"_I'm the guy you're after, and if you can't get me, this whole city is going to crash and BURN_" said the other person

"I'll find you Lloyd" said Ryder

"_Lloyd isn't here I'm afraid_" said the other person

Ryder quickly typed in a code on his Gadget Gauntlets.

"Then whoever you are, I'll find you" said Ryder

"_You better, or else only a cremation will be in poor Mr Arnold's future_" said the person on the other end

"Mr Arnold? What are you talking about?" asked Ryder

"_Oh, you haven't realised it yet, I've captured that Snob and imprisoned him at my hideout, if you don't find him soon, he'll be going up in smoke_" said the person at the other end

"You monster" said Ryder

"_Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got other plans, bye_" said the other person

"Who was it sir?" asked Angelo

"It was Lloyd, and I know where he is" said Ryder

"How?" asked Angelo

"When he hacked my communicator, I was able to trace the communication, he's hiding out at the firework factory" said Ryder

Ryder hopped on the Ryder-Cycle and rode off, he arrived at the firework factory shortly after and walked up to the front door, he peeked inside and saw Mr Arnold tied to a chair, standing next to Mr Arnold was a man wearing black armor carrying a big gun and wearing a metallic back pack.

"_Just walking in would be suicide, I need to find a way to sneak in_" thought Ryder

Ryder inspected the building, he activated a mode called 'Crime Sight', which allowed him to notice an air vent on the third floor of the building.

"_The bolts keeping that thing attached to the wall are weak, I can easily pull it off, I just need something to reach that far_" thought Ryder

Ryder went back to his motorcycle and typed in a code into his gauntlets and a secret compartment on the bike, under the seat, opened up. Ryder reached in and pulled out something resembling a gun and walked back to the air vent. He aimed the gun at the vent cover and fired at it. The gun shot out 3 cables at the vent cover, Ryder flipped a switch and the cables started to retract back to the gun, pulling off the vent cover.

"Perfect" said Ryder

Ryder returned to the bike and put back the gun, he returned to the vent cover and pulled his grappling hook out of one of the pouches on his utility belt and used it to get in through the air vent, eventually finding himself near the room where Mr Arnold was being held.

"You know Mr Arnold, there was a time when I had respect for you, I though you were a great guy, but things change, and time is running out for Red Ryder, if he's not here shortly, I might be tempted to see how fast you will burn" said the captor

"You're crazy" said Mr Arnold

Mr Arnold's captor turned around, revealing their full appearance, the black attire they were wearing was also designed with orange accents and he was wearing a black air force helmet with orange lenses.

"No, not crazy, that would imply a mental illness of some sorts, which I do not have, the reason why you're here is revenge" said the captor

The captor removed their helmet and confirmed Ryder's suspicions, it was Lloyd.

"I'm sorry Lloyd, but I had no choice" said Mr Arnold

"YOU ALWAYS HAVE A CHOICE! Now it's my choice to end you" said Lloyd

Lloyd walked away to another room, carrying his helmet under his arm, Ryder took advantage of the opportunity and entered the room, he snuck through the room to make sure Lloyd didn't hear him, he reached the chair Mr Arnold was tied to.

"Red Ryder?" asked Mr Arnold

"Yes Mr Arnold, it's me, I'm here to get you out of here" said Ryder

Ryder activated the hidden blade in his left gauntlet and cut the ropes that were keeping Mr Arnold tied to the chair.

"Not so fast Ryder" said Lloyd

Lloyd was standing across the room holding a gun in his hand.

"Lloyd, why are you doing this?" asked Ryder

"Lloyd? No, no, Lloyd is not here, I'm someone altogether more dangerous, I...am Bombshell" said Lloyd

"The name doesn't matter, why are you doing this?" asked Ryder

"To get my revenge on the two of you for costing me the best job I ever had" said Bombshell

"What are you talking about? You were fired because of budget cuts" said Ryder

"No I wasn't, I read the finances file for the movie, I wasn't fired for budget cuts, I was fired because of a certain noise complaint by you" said Bombshell

"What?" asked Ryder

"After you saved Mr Arnold from that criminal, you said that the noises from the special effects had been keeping you awake for 3 days, that's the reason why I was fired" said Bombshell

"Mr Arnold, is that true?" asked Ryder

"Yes, it's true, since you saved me, it was the least I could do" said Mr Arnold

"Next time, just say thank you" said Ryder

"NEVER THE LESS! Since you got me fired, I'm gonna do the same to you, once you are gone, Ambrose City will be down a hero, and who better to take the job than me" said Bombshell

Bombshell pulled the trigger on the gun, but only a click was heard, the gun was empty.

"Hahaha! Guns aren't my style, I much rather prefer things like this" said Bombshell, grabbing his flame thrower.

"What are you going to do?" asked Mr Arnold

"It's simple, every exit to this building is locked and it's filled with fireworks..." said Bombshell, pointing his flamethrower to a crate of fireworks

"You're mad, you ignite those fireworks it'll kill you too" said Ryder

"Not really" said Bombshell

Bombshell grabbed an explosive and threw it at the ceiling, when it detonated, it left a big hole.

"You see, this is why I would make a better hero for this city, because unlike you, Ryder..." said Bombshell

Bombshell grabbed a remote from his back pocket and 2 wings formed out of his back pack.

"...I can fly" said Bombshell

Bombshell pressed another button on the remote and he started to take flight.

"A jet pack?" asked Mr Arnold

"Uh huh, so long, have fun" said Bombshell

When Bombshell tried to leave, he dropped a bomb into the factory. Ryder grabbed a gadget and threw it at Bombshell, causing it to get hooked to his jetpack. The gadget was attached to a rope.

"Hold this" said Ryder, handing Mr Arnold the rope

"Alright, but...WHOA!" said Mr Arnold, being taken away by Bombshell, thanks to Ryder's gadget

"I need to diffuse the bomb before it goes off, if it detonates, it could destroy Ambrose City" said Ryder

Ryder rushed to the bomb and tried to analyse it, he opened a panel on the back to get to the wires. The bomb was set to go off in 1 minute.

"Oh great" said Ryder, sarcastically

Ryder used his glasses to detect which wire to cut. The glasses seemed to highlight the green wire.

"Alright, green first" said Ryder

Ryder used his hidden blade to cut the wire, after which, the glasses highlighted the blue wire, which Ryder proceeded to cut. Ryder was clearly nervous now. The glasses highlighted the red wire next.

"Alright then, red next" said Ryder

Ryder cut the red wire and the countdown on the bomb stopped with 1 second left.

"God that was close, now to catch Bombshell" said Ryder

Ryder typed a code into his gauntlets and the bike rode back to the lab, 1 minute later, a black/red jet appeared above the fireworks factory. A platform lowered from the jet and Ryder hopped on it, and the platform raised back to the jet.

"Angelo, I'm in the Ryder-Jet" said Ryder

"_Are you sure about this sir? It's never been tested_" said Angelo over the communicator

"I'm sure, this is the only thing that can help me catch Lloyd" said Ryder

Ryder hopped in the pilot's seat and flew off, he soon caught up with Bombshell, with Mr Arnold still hanging from his jetpack.

"_I gotta get Mr Arnold down so he's not in danger_" thought Ryder

Ryder grabbed a metal boomerang from his utility belt and threw it out the window towards the rope that Mr Arnold was holding onto. The boomerang cut the rope and allowed Mr Arnold to land safely.

"What was that?" asked Bombshell

Bombshell turned around in time to see Ryder catch the boomerang as it came back.

"YOU?!" asked Bombshell

Bombshell flew off, but luckily, Ryder's jet was faster, and he was able to fly above Bombshell. Ryder grabbed another Boomerang from his utility belt and threw it at Bombshell. The boomerang hit Bombshell's jetpack and caused it to malfunction, Bombshell flew through the window of a building before he was able to take off his jetpack. Ryder was able to eject from the jet and land in the same building.

"Lloyd Chester, you're under arrest" said Ryder, placing a pair of handcuffs on Bombshell.

Later that night, the police took Lloyd to Rollins Asylum.

"Thanks for helping us catch this arsonist, Ryder" said Francis

"No problem Francis, luckily, no one was hurt" said Ryder

"True, well, thanks again for your help Ryder" said Francis

"Happy to help" said Ryder

Ryder typed a code into his wristbands and the Ryder Cycle rode towards the location, Ryder hopped on the bike and rode off

"I gotta ask him where I can get one of those" joked Francis

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><p><strong>That does it for this edition<strong>

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	9. Toxinne Part 1

Chapter 9 is here

Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics

* * *

><p>Red Ryder was searching through the museum late at night, he got a message about Clockwork breaking in.<p>

"Come on out Jebediah, you know you can't beat me" said Ryder

Ryder heard footsteps, he grabbed his boomerang and threw it at the source of the footsteps, it was clear that it hit someone because someone groaned in pain. Ryder caught his boomerang and went to see who he hit, it was Clockwork.

"Jebediah, you're under arrest" said Ryder

"Aw man" said Clockwork

Ryder placed his handcuffs on Clockwork and took him to the station, where Francis was waiting for him.

"Thank you for capturing Clockwork" said Francis

"No problem, happy to help" said Ryder

"Hey, Ryder, do you think you can help us with another case?" asked Francis

"Sure, what is it?" asked Ryder

Francis handed Ryder a file.

"Seven people have been found killed in suspicious ways over the last month, we have no idea who's doing it, think you can help us?" asked Francis

"I'll get right on it" said Ryder

Ryder returned to the lab to do some research on the people that were killed, the first one was a successful banker, the second was a bar owner, the third was the CEO of a pharmaceutical company, the fourth was the head of a construction company, fifth was an insurance salesman, sixth was a school headmaster and seventh was a gardener.

"No clear link between the 7 victims" said David

"Well, the first six were actually quite successful in their respective fields" said Angelo

==The Next Night==

David was taking a walk in the park, it was after 11, but Angelo didn't mind, since David was Red Ryder, he always kept gadgets with him to keep himself safe. David took the case file with him.

"_Why would someone kill seven people with 7 different MO's in seven random locations who have nothing in common?_" thought David

David then thought he could hear footsteps, but he just brushed it off, he went back to reading the case file when someone seemed to hit him in the back of the leg with a baseball bat.

"OW!" screamed David

David looked up to see a brute of a man wearing a trench coat and a black mask.

"I see you have been reading about me" said the man

"You? You're the serial killer?" asked David

"Serial Killer? I'm a hitman" said the man

"Who are you?" asked David

"My name...is Golem, I used to fight in the ring" said the man

"Now you're a killer" said David

"Well, I hate to do this, but I have a client who wants you dead" said Golem

Golem grabbed a gun, but David was able to kick the gun away and get away, but Golem chased him, David called Angelo using his Communicator.

"Angelo, ready the wing" said David

"_Where to sir?_" asked Angelo

"At the intersection of 2nd and Parker" said David

"_At once sir_" said Angelo

David ran to where he asked for the wing to be sent, after he was able to lose Golem, The wing was a black and red plane. David flew it back to the mansion.

Later that night, David was doing some research on Golem.

"Find anything sir?" asked Angelo

"Yes actually, check this news report from a few years ago" said David

_**GOLEM SHOCKS MILLIONS**_

_Famous Mexican Wrestler, Golem, immortalizes himself by being winning the MLWP Championship,  
>however, after winning the championship belt, Golem announced his retirement from the ring.<em>

"Ah, I remember that wrestler, but it couldn't be the same Golem, that wrestler was 5"7 and weighed 175 pounds, this Golem is about 6"4 and weight approximately 255 pounds" said Angelo

"I know, then I found this news report from 1 year after Golem's wrestling retirement" said David

_**GOLEM THE SCIENTIST**_

_Retired Mexican Wrestler, Golem, volunteered to test a new experimental steroid called 'Toxinne', Dr. Jason Maridith injected the liquid into Golem's blood stream and caused a massive growth spurt in the former Luchador._

"Apparently Golem got beefed up with this 'Toxinne' drug, however, the steroid needed to be taken every 24 hours and no more than 1 litre a day, any more could cause dangerous side effects, what type of side effects are currently unknown, however" said David

"Well sir, there's still one question left unanswered" said Angelo

"What's that?" asked David

"Well, this Golem was killing people in ways that made them look like complete accidents, however, he only tried to shoot you, why go to such lengths with the other 7 and try to kill you quickly?" asked Angelo

"I'm not sure Angelo" said David

The next night, David was researching Golem some more, that was when the alarm went off.

"Where's the trouble sir?" asked Angelo

David checked the computer and noticed where the crime was.

"The Reigns Hotel" said David

David got up and went to change into the Ryder suit, after which he hopped on the Ryder Cycle.

"Don't wait up Angelo" said Ryder

Ryder rode off until he arrived at the hotel.

"Here I am, Reigns Hotel" said Ryder

Ryder searched around the hotel, Golem's goons were blocking the front door, Ryder needed to sneak in. Ryder found an alternative entrance on the side of the hotel, he entered through the door and found himself in the Hotel's underground parking lot.

"_Sir, are you sure Golem is at the Reigns?_" asked Angelo

"I'm positive" said Ryder

Ryder heard something below him and saw a gang of Golem's goons waiting for him, there were also 2 goons on the same level as Ryder. Ryder snuck up behind them and knocked them out by slamming their heads together.

"I need to take out those goons" said Ryder

Ryder grabbed a gadget from his belt and threw it down at the goons, causing knockout gas to come out from it and knock out all the goons. Ryder was able to get past without the gas affecting him thanks to his mask. He proceeded to try to find Golem. He called for the elevator but it wasn't working.

"I have to find the main generator" said Red Ryder

Ryder continued to search until he found what appeared to be some sort of control panel.

"This must be the main generator" said Ryder

Ryder pulled on a lever and pressed some buttons and the elevator door opened up. Ryder entered the elevator and used it to go up, while in the elevator, he received a communication from Angelo.

"_Sir, do you even know where Golem is?_" asked Angelo

"Unfortunately not, why?" asked Ryder

"_You can find a security room in the hotel lobby. You might be able to use the security cameras to find where he is_" said Angelo

"Good thinking Angelo" said Ryder

The elevator stopped and Ryder exited, finding himself in a small hallway. He walked up to the door at the end and went through it, finding himself in the hotel lobby.

"I need to find the security room" said Ryder

Ryder searched the lobby before finding the security room, he needed a code to unlock it, so he used his De-Coder and easily got in.

"Great, now to find Golem" said Ryder

Ryder was able to access the security cameras and saw footage of Golem in the Hotel Penthouse.

==Footage==

_Golem was searching through the penthouse, he appeared to be looking for something._

_"Where is he?" asked Golem_

_Just then, a police officer burst through the door and tried shooting at Golem, but Golem didn't seem affected, pretty soon, the officer ran out of bullets._

_"Oh no" said the officer, obviously scared_

_"Oh yes" said Golem_

_With one hand, Golem picked up the security guard and threw him out the window._

==End Footage==

Ryder left the security room just in time to see the same officer crash through the hotel lobby's glass ceiling. Ryder went to check on him.

"He's dead, now Golem's gonna pay" said Ryder

Ryder noticed a lift that had fallen when the officer had crashed through the ceiling.

"If I can charge up that lift, it should get me up to the ceiling" said Ryder

Ryder hopped onto the lift and grabbed something from is utility belt, it appeared to be some form of gun. Ryder aimed the gun at the lift's control panel and fired at it, the gun released an electrical charge which powered up the lift, allowing Ryder to get out through the ceiling, Ryder was then able to use his grappling hook to reach an open window on the 10th floor.

"I gotta find a way to the penthouse, but the elevators are down" said Ryder

Ryder searched through the hallway until he was blocked off by a metal gate, he noticed a control panel and grabbed his electrical gun and fired at the control panel, which then opened the gate, and Ryder proceeded to pass through. Ryder continued to search the floor, but when he turned a corner, he was ambushed by 6 of Golem's goons.

"What was that for?" asked Ryder

"Sorry, orders from the boss" said one of the goons

Ryder jumped over one of the goons before hitting it with a back elbow. He then leaped over one goon carrying a knife before punching him in the head, another goon tried to hit Ryder with a metal pipe, but Ryder was able to grab the pipe and hit the man in the leg.

"I'll get him" said one goon

The goon charged at Ryder with a knife, but Ryder was able to dodge every strike, after about 4 missed attacks, Ryder grabbed the goon's wrist, twisted his arm and kneed him in the face. 3 goons tried to attack Ryder at once, but Ryder was able to cartwheel away, but not without leaving behind a sample of explosive slime, which detonated when the goons were close enough. Ryder was then able to jump over another goon before super kicking him in the back of the head. Another goon tried to kick Ryder, but Ryder was able to catch the kick, elbow the goon in the head and then sweep his leg to knock him down. Ryder went after another goon and started to beat him down, but stopped when another goon tried to blindside him, but Ryder was able to connect with a spinning roundhouse kick to take him down, before going back to beating down the other goon and knocking him out with an uppercut. There were only 3 goons left that weren't unconscious, Ryder alternated between the 3 until all 3 were knocked down, but not out, when all 3 were down, Ryder grabbed one of them by the shirt and finished him with a final punch to the face and doing the same with another goon. The final goon had got back to his feet, he attempted to punch Ryder, but Ryder caught the punch and finished him off with an uppercut.

"Now that these thugs are dealt with, time to find Golem" said Ryder

Ryder continued to search through the hotel until he found himself in a laundry room. Ryder noticed an air vent. He used his grappling hook to pull down the covering and then crawled in, finding himself in an elevator shaft. Ryder continued to walk along until he was faced with 2 hanging elevators, he leaped onto one and quickly onto the other, just in time to see the first one fall.

"That was close" said Ryder

Ryder noticed a motor like device on top of the elevator and shot it with his electric gun, after which, the elevator went up. When it stopped, a goon opened the elevator door to find out what the noise was, after which, Ryder just hung him upside down from the door.

"Please, don't hurt me, I have a family" said someone in the distance

Ryder snuck through the hallway and saw more goons beating down hotel employees.

"_I've gotta put a stop to this_" thought Ryder

Ryder charged at one of the goons and punched him in the face. A second goon tried to attack Ryder with a knife but Ryder was able to dodge all the attacks, grab the man's arm and knee him in the face to knock him out. A bigger thug tried to attack Ryder, but Ryder was able to take him down with an uppercut. A goon carrying a metal pipe tried to attack Ryder but Ryder knocked him down with a spinning heel kick. Another goon attempted to punch Ryder, but Ryder caught the punch and uppercut the goon. The bigger goon got back to his feet and attempted to kick Ryder, but Ryder caught the kick, swept his other leg and then snapped his knee to prevent him from getting back up. Only 2 goons left, one tried charging at Ryder, but Ryder got out the way and knocked back the goon using his explosive slime, leaving him dazed. The other remaining goon charged at Ryder but Ryder continuously punched him in the gut before driving his face into his knee to knock him out. By this time, the only other goon left had regained his stamina.

"Don't hurt me, I surrender" said the goon

Ryder handcuffed the goon and walked over to the hotel employee.

"Please, don't hurt me" said the employee

"I won't, I'm here to find Golem" said Ryder

"Thank you, these goons, they took my friends, they're holding them hostage upstairs" said the employee

"Where?" asked Ryder

"The suspended bar between the hotel towers" said the employee

"I'll find them" said Ryder

Ryder continued to search, he eventually found a hallway with an open window, across from him was another open window. Ryder pulled out one of his gadgets and used it to zip line across, kicking and knocking down a thug on the other side. Ryder continued to search the hallways, when he was ambushed by 3 goons.

"I am really getting sick of you guys" said Ryder

The first thug charged at Ryder, but Ryder fought him off with 3 punches, after which, Ryder jumped over him and punched him in the back of the head to knock him down. The second thug tried to attack Ryder, but Ryder was able to block all the punches and kicks with his gauntlets. Ryder punched the thug twice before grabbing him by the head and performing a modified tackle. Ryder then leaped at the third thug and quickly knocked him out by driving his face into the floor. The second thug got back to his feet, he tried to kick Ryder, but Ryder caught the kick and kicked the thug away, before knocking him out with a grounded punch to the back of the head. The first thug was back to his feet now, but Ryder just beat him down with several punches before finishing him off with a spinning roundhouse kick.

"That takes care of them, now to find Golem" said Ryder

Ryder continued to try to find Golem, but instead found the ventilation shaft. Ryder was able to use his gadgets to easily get to the top and get to the 25th floor. He searched through the hallway and saw 2 men, one was holding a knife. Ryder grabbed his grappling hook and used it to pull the other man towards him, before tripping him up and slamming him to the ground.

"Hey, I'll get you for that" said the guy with the knife

The man ran towards Ryder before trying to attack him with the knife, Ryder dodged the first 2 slashes, but rather than dodge the third, he grabbed the man's wrist and kneed him in the face to knock him out. Ryder entered another room through the door the 2 men were guarding, he found himself atop a ballroom. There were over 100 goons.

"_Trying to take down all those goons would be suicide, I have to get to the door on the other side of the room without being noticed_" thought Ryder

Ryder grabbed his Zip Liner and used it to zip line to an area across the room and faced a door, he went through the door and found himself in another hallway, he heard voices and followed them, finding one of Golem's goons with one of the hotel employees at gunpoint.

"Thought you could hide from us?" asked the goon

"Please, don't kill me" said the hotel employee

"Shut up" said the goon

"Why are you doing this?" asked the hotel employee

"I have orders, the boss wants no one disturbing his work, so unless you get in the way of his business, you don't die, unless my trigger finger feels itchy" said the goon

Red Ryder snuck up behind the goon before putting him in a sleeper hold to make him pass out, after which, he slammed his head into the floor.

"Thanks" said the employee

"No problem" said Ryder

"There are more of them, they have my co-workers" said the employee

"Don't worry, I'll get to them before anything happens" said Ryder

"OK, hurry" said the employee

Ryder walked through a door and found himself inside the suspended bar between the 2 towers, he noticed 6 goons, one was armed, the others weren't. Ryder hid inside the grates in the floor, when he was inside the middle of the bar, he jumped out of the grates and kicked a goon in the face to knock him out. After that, he super kicked a second goon, a third goon tried to punch him, but Ryder caught the punch and uppercut him. Ryder noticed the goon with the gun and quickly knocked the gun out of his hands before punching him in the face. A fifth goon tried to attack Ryder with a knife, but Ryder was able to jump over him. The sixth goon was a brute of a man, Ryder ripped the padding off the goon's back before trying to beat him down, when the goon turned around, Ryder jumped over him and repeated the same process, after Ryder was done with that, he hit the goon with a bulldog to knock him out. There were 4 goons left, Ryder kept hitting them with punches to the face until each of them were down, but not out, he leapt to one of the grounded goons before punching him in the face to knock him out. Ryder did the same to 2 other guards, leaving only one left. The final goon tried to kick Ryder, but Ryder caught the kick before flipping the man over and kicking him in the back and sending him across the room.

"_The hostages are safe, I need to get to the penthouse...and stop Golem_" thought Ryder

Ryder left the bar but found the way forward blocked, he noticed part of the wall of the walkway holding up the bar seemed weak, he used his explosive slime to break the wall. He used his grappling hook to get to a gargoyle on the outside of the hotel, before using his grappling hook again to get through an open window on the 28th floor. When he reached the floor, he was shocked by the sight infront of him, a countdown timer was wired to a series of bombs and gasoline barrels.

"These bombs are set to go off tomorrow, I should be able to disarm them with my de coder" said Ryder

Ryder used his decoder to disarm the bombs, or so it seemed, the second Ryder had appeared to disarm the bombs, the countdown timer rapidly counted down to 24 seconds.

"Oh no" said Ryder

Ryder jumped out the window and used his grappling hook to hitch a ride on a news helicopter that was flying around the hotel. The helicopter flew up, Ryder let go of the helicopter and was able to land on the East Tower Terrace, he entered the tower through a door and realised he was on the 40th floor, Ryder looked around and saw several hotel employees and guests injured, Ryder continued through the hallway until he found an elevator. Ryder used the elevator to reach the penthouse, as the elevator was going up Ryder opened a panel on the elevator roof and hid on top of the elevator.

The elevator soon reached the penthouse floor, Golem heard the elevator and went to investigate, he saw nothing in the elevator. Golem punched through the elevator roof and pulled down Ryder.

"I knew you would be here" said Golem

Golem picked up Ryder and through him into a wall, he then continuously slammed Ryder into walls until he tossed Ryder through a door, into the penthouse. When Ryder made it back to his feet, Golem uppercut him across the room.

"So glad you could make it, jinete roja, like David Young, you are also on my hit list, and once you are dead, el hombre enmascarado will pay very handsomely" said Golem

"_El Hombre Enmascarado?_" thought Ryder

"Why are you here?" asked Ryder

"You think you're the only one on my list, the man that lives here is also a target from a client" said Golem

Golem lifted Ryder above his head before tossing him through a window, Ryder landed in the Penthouse Library, the fall wasn't very far, so Ryder wasn't that badly hurt from the fall. Golem jumped into the library after Ryder.

"Time to fight" said Golem

Golem charged at Ryder, but Ryder was able to avoid impact and caused Golem to run into a wall. Ryder then started to beat down Golem, after which, Ryder head-butted Golem. While Golem was dazed, Ryder then proceeded to hit him with a roundhouse kick to the face.

"Hahaha, you're a good fighter, I'll give you that, but let's see how you can fare against me when I'm even stronger" said Golem

Golem removed his jacket and showed what he was wearing underneath, a black vest with tubes filled with a red liquid that was being sent into Golem's body. Golem pressed a button on the vest and the red liquid started to flow into Golem's body, Golem's muscles started to get slightly bigger.

"Is that the Toxinne Steroid?" asked Ryder

"Yes, it is, glad you know about it" said Golem

Golem tried to punch Ryder, but Ryder was able to leap above the punch. Ryder then proceeded to beat down Golem, when Golem tried to punch Ryder again, Ryder was able to dodge the punch and get behind Golem and pull out one of the tubes to weaken Golem. When Golem was weakened, Ryder then started to beat him down once again, before hitting a roundhouse kick. Ryder attempted to finish off Golem, but Golem caught Ryder's punch and elbowed him in the back of the head and throw him out the window. Ryder landed on the East Tower Terrace from before.

"Voy a romperte" said Golem

Golem charged at Ryder, but Ryder rolled out of the way, causing Golem to run into another wall. Ryder quickly continued to beat down Golem and connect with another kick to the face, before pulling out another of the tubes to once again weaken Golem. Ryder once again attempted to punch Golem, but Golem caught it again and once again, attempted to elbow Red Ryder, however, this time, Ryder was prepared, he quickly kicked Golem in the face, Golem pressed the button on his vest once again, causing him to get even stronger.

"I thought that taking too much of that stuff at once had side effects" said Ryder

"It does, but luckily, this vest only injects me with 500 millilitres each day, then 100 more millilitres every time I press this button, today, I've only taken 800 millilitres" said Golem

Ryder and Golem continued to fight, Ryder continued to beat down Golem, until Golem caught one of Ryder's punches and then threw Ryder into a wall. Golem tried to attack Ryder while he was down, but Ryder was able to move out of the way and get behind Golem and once again remove another tube but Golem continued to use the Toxinne steroid to beef himself up.

"Doesn't that get old?" asked Ryder

"Not really" said Golem

The two continued to fight, Ryder hit Golem with several kicks, but Golem didn't go down, Ryder once again got behind Golem and removed another tube, leaving only one left. Golem punched Ryder away before beefing himself up once more.

"_I have to remove the last tube, if I do then Golem won't be able to beef himself up again, he's already taken 1 whole litre, he can't inject himself with any more_" thought Ryder

Golem leapt into the air and tried to hit Ryder with a double axe handle, but Ryder was able to get out of the way and get behind Golem and kick away the last tube. Golem then tried to beef himself up again.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you Golem, you've already taken a full litre of the Toxinne Steroid, unless you want the side effects, you can't take any more" said Ryder

"You may win this round, but I'll be back" said Golem

A helicopter with some of Golem's goons inside flew by where the two were fighting, Golem leapt into the helicopter and grabbed something from inside. What Golem didn't realise is that when he got inside the helicopter, Ryder placed a tracker on him.

"Until next time, if you're still alive" said Golem

Golem revealed that he had grabbed a bazooka and aimed it at the hotel and fired behind where Red Ryder was standing, the rocket caused an explosion that sent Ryder flying off the terrace, Golem's helicopter flew away. While free falling, Ryder pulled out his grappling hook and used it to hook on to a gargoyle to prevent himself from falling any further. Ryder got atop the gargoyle before typing a code into his gauntlets and his Hang Glider arrived. Ryder hopped on the glider and used it to get to the roof of a building across the street, before contacting Angelo on his communicator.

"Angelo, I was able to stop Golem, but he got away" said Ryder

"_That's too bad, well, you'll get him next time_" said Angelo

"I'm just hoping that's sooner rather than later, luckily I placed a tracker on him so I'll be able to find him" said Ryder

"_That's good, I'm sending the Wing to your co ordinates, I'll see you when you get back_" said Angelo

"Thanks Angelo, I'll see you later" said Ryder

* * *

><p><strong>That's it for this chapter, I know it's a little longer than usual.<strong>

**READ AND REVIEW**


	10. Toxinne Part 2

Time for chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics

* * *

><p>David was in the lab, trying to locate the tracker he placed on Golem.<p>

"Any luck sir?" asked Angelo

"Nothing yet, it's like Golem has left the planet" said David

"Hey sir, when you were fighting with Golem, he mentioned El Hombre Enmascarado, what does that mean?" asked Angelo

"It's Spanish for The Masked Man" said David

"The Masked Man? Do you know anyone like that?" asked Angelo

"Not really, except Bombshell, but he's safely behind bars" said David

"Well, what about Puzzler?" asked Angelo

"No, he wouldn't hire someone for his dirty work, he would send me on a scavenger hunt" said David

"Very true sir" said Angelo

==Meanwhile==

It was late at night, Francis had just returned home, he went to the kitchen to make himself a sandwich, but before he could get the bread, he heard footsteps.

"Who's there?" asked Francis

Francis didn't get an answer, he shrugged it off and went back to get the bread, only for someone to sneak up behind him and knock him out.

==The Next Night==

Angelo entered the lab with a newspaper

"Sir, you have to look at this" said Angelo

"What is it?" asked David

"Well, it appears that Golem is in the ACPD Morgue" said Angelo

"What?" asked David

"Maybe that's why you can't track him" said Angelo

"Maybe, I better check" said David

David got changed into the Red Ryder suit and used the wing to fly away, when he had arrived at his destination, he used a hidden entrance to reach the sewers.

"If Golem is at the morgue, then this is by best chance of getting there without being spotted" said Ryder

Ryder travelled through the sewers until he found himself under the morgue and he entered, spotting a man on a gurney, but it clearly wasn't Golem.

"It's not him, but it's one of his men, I should scan the body to find out what had happened" said Ryder

Ryder activated his goggles and used them to scan the corpse, he now knew what happened.

"Victim was dosed with a chemical that caused temporary deformation of his physiology, no doubt the Toxinne chemical, not everyone can endure the effects of the stuff" said Ryder

Ryder searched to find more, he found a computer with the autopsy report and hacked it to find out more.

"Strange, it wasn't Toxinne, but it was something similar, with a major side effect of reducing the brain's mental capacity in several different ways and causes damage to the brain's memory centre. Any prolonged use could damage the user's memory" said Ryder

Ryder's gauntlet started to beep.

"What's this?" asked Ryder

Ryder looked at the screen on his gauntlet, it was a map of the city, with a red beacon on the upper left section of the map.

"There you are" said Ryder

Ryder went back into the sewers before returning to where he was to get out.

"I gotta get to Golem's location before I lose the signal again" said Ryder

Ryder hopped into the wing and flew to the signal's location, when Ryder arrived, he realised that the signal was coming from underground, so he had to go back into the sewers, when he entered, he found himself facing a tunnel of water, too deep to walk, and too unhealthy to swim in.

"If I use my Glue Bomb, I can make a raft" said Ryder

Ryder grabbed his glue bomb and threw it into the water, when it exploded, it formed a platform that Ryder was able to stand on, Ryder used his crossbow gauntlet to fire arrows into walls to pull himself across. When Ryder made it across, he walked through the tunnel and reached what seemed like some sort of office.

"This must be Golem's hideout" said Ryder

Ryder inspected the place, he found some research on the Toxinne steroid, and a modified chemical.

"He's trying to make an improved version of the steroid" said Ryder

Ryder scanned the documents before continuing to inspect the room. Ryder found another room, on the wall was a notice board with newspaper clippings of Red Ryder. Ryder looked on a table and noticed something beeping, the tracker he put on Golem.

"He found it and removed it, impressive, that's why it wasn't sending out a signal, unless I'm close enough then these don't show up on the map" said Ryder

Ryder put the tracker back in his utility belt, the computers on the table suddenly turned on, half showed pictures of Red Ryder, the other half showed pictures of David Young.

"What's going on?" asked Ryder

Ryder looked back at the notice board, he noticed one clipping which was a picture of Red Ryder next to a picture of David Young with a tick marked next to them. Ryder's eyes could be seen widening behind his glasses.

"No, he knows who I am" said Ryder

Ryder grabbed some sort of gun and sprayed some sort of slime across the room, when he left the room, he pressed a button on the gun and everything in the room exploded. Ryder grabbed his communicator.

"Angelo, Golem knows who I am, you're not safe at the mansion" said Ryder

"_Understood sir, should I contact the police?_" asked Angelo

"No, I can't risk them discovering me too, just secure yourself inside the lab and don't leave until I say otherwise" said Ryder

"_On it, what are you going to do?_" asked Angelo

"I'm on my way back, I'll try to figure something out" said Ryder

Ryder went back out through the sewers before heading back home to check on Angelo, he decided to contact Angelo first.

"Angelo, are you alright?" asked Ryder

"_Hello Ryder, or should I say, Hello DAVID_" said someone with a very thick Mexican accent

"Golem?" asked Ryder

"_I am in your home Dave! Come home, say goodbye to your little butler, then, when all your misery has turned to aggression, you will be ready to fight me_" said Golem

"What have you done to Angelo?" asked Ryder

"_I have left enough life in him for some final words, but I'd get home quickly or you won't be able to hear them_" said Golem

Golem hung up.

"ANGELO!" screamed Ryder before hitting the turbo and speeding home

When he arrived, the lab was nearly burnt to a crisp.

"Angelo! Angelo, where are you?" asked Ryder

Ryder searched the lab before he found Angelo just barely alive.

"Angelo, you're alright" said Ryder

"No, I'm not" said Angelo

"What? No, Angelo, you can't" said Ryder

Angelo's eyes closed, Ryder held him close, before getting an idea, he took a car battery he was using for another invention and took 2 wires, he used the wires like a defibrillator and shocked Angelo, after 4 or 5 tries, Angelo awoke.

"Angelo, you're alive" said Ryder

"Thank you" said Angelo

Ryder picked up Angelo and carried him to a gurney.

"What are you going to do now?" asked Angelo

"I'm gonna find Golem" said Ryder

"And do what? You're not going to kill him, are you?" asked Angelo

"No, I never kill, I'm gonna bring him to justice and have him put behind bars" said Ryder

"That should be easy" said Angelo

"What do you mean?" asked Ryder

"When Golem was destroying the lab, he bragged about his plan, he's heading to Rollins Asylum" said Angelo

"He's going to release the prisoners, he's trying to draw me out so he can finish his contract on me, he knows my secret, he's going to use that" said Ryder

"What?" asked Angelo

"Remember, when I first met him, I was just David Young, but he tried to kill me, because David Young is on his hit list, since he knows who I am, he's trying to bring out Red Ryder, to take down David" said Ryder

"When are you going to get him?" asked Angelo

"Now" said Ryder

Ryder hopped into the Wing and flew off to Rollins Asylum, when he arrived, he noticed 10 inmates near the entrance, Ryder quickly took out 9, he knocked down the 10th before placing his foot on his face.

"Where is Golem?" asked Ryder

"I don't know" said the inmate

"You're lying" said Ryder

"No, I'm not, only Golem's assistant, Crane, knows, and he's back in Ambrose City" said the inmate

"Fine, I'll believe you for now, but if I find out you're lying, you'll pay" said Ryder

Ryder knocked out the inmate and went over to the door, but before going in, Ryder turned around and grabbed one of the inmate's stun sticks, he tried to open the door, but it was locked, Ryder noticed a manhole cover and used it to enter the sewers to find an alternate route, Ryder went through the tunnels, he reached a large body of water and, like before, used his glue bombs to get across, eventually, after a while of sailing on glue, Ryder found himself back on solid ground and made his way to the maintenance room, he crawled through the vents to find himself inside another room, there were 10 criminals guarding the room and a woman held hostage. Ryder was able to take out the first criminal from behind, after which, he was able to knock out the second criminal by tackling him through the vents.

"_Before I get to Golem, I need to rescue the hostage_" thought Ryder

Ryder sprayed some of his exploding slime on a wall when no one was looking, when someone walked near it, Ryder detonated the slime, luckily, the blast wasn't big enough to kill the man, just knock him out. Ryder snuck around the room, seeing a guy with a sniper rifle, Ryder used his grappling hook to reach him before tackling him from behind and knocking him out, after which, he sprayed some explosive slime on the floor. Ryder snuck behind 2 more criminals and slammed their heads together to knock them out, leaving only 4 more criminals. 2 men went up to where the sniper was and saw him unconscious, Ryder noticed and detonated the slime to knock them down and knock them unconscious, only 2 men left. Ryder was able to knock the first man out from behind before escaping to cover, when the last guy left found the man knocked out, Ryder threw his glue bomb at the criminal, immobilizing the man, Ryder was easily able to take down the final man.

"That's the last of them, now to free the hostage" said Ryder

Ryder found the hostage tied to a chair in the centre of the room, Ryder cut the ropes and released her.

"Are you okay?" asked Ryder

"I'm fine" said the woman

"Do you know where Golem is?" asked Ryder

"He's in the Panopticon, you can get there through Cell Block C" said the woman

"Thanks miss..." said Ryder

"Catherine, my name is Catherine" said the woman

Ryder took off to Cell Block C, all the convicts had been released from their cells, while searching for Golem, Ryder noticed someone in their cell, there was no mistaking that face, it's hard to forget someone who tried to burn you to death.

"Hello Lloyd" said Ryder

"Hello Ryder, when are you going to remember that I prefer Bombshell" said Lloyd

"Where is Golem?" asked Ryder

Lloyd pointed to the right and Ryder continued across the hallway, finding himself in a large room that seemed similar to some sort of arena, a platform lowered, on it was Ryder's craziest enemy, Clockwork, holding a knife to a police officer's throat.

"Where is Golem?" asked Ryder

"I'm right here" said Golem

Golem walked across a catwalk and stepped on the platform.

"What is all this?" asked Ryder

"This is where you break your one rule, this is where you must kill me" said Golem

"I will never kill, not even someone as heartless as you" said Ryder

"You have no choice, Clockwork, explain" said Golem

"You see, Golem is holding a little device of mine in his hand, it's a heart monitor, every single beat will charge a battery on THIS..." said Clockwork

Clockwork stepped aside to reveal an electric chair.

"A certain someone will be sitting in this chair while you battle Golem, if his heart keeps beating, the chair will activate and kill whoever sits in it" said Clockwork

"Why? You only care about killing me for your hit list, why are you risking your own life?" asked Ryder

"This is not about the hit, this is about something else" said Golem

"And who will be in the chair? BRING HIM IN" said Clockwork

2 criminals entered with Francis.

"You see, if you don't kill Golem, then the commissioner dies" said Clockwork

Golem stepped off the platform and reached the ground that Ryder was on, before putting on the heart monitor.

"Let's do this" said Golem

The criminals strapped Francis into the chair, Golem charged at Ryder, but Ryder dodged out of the way, only for Golem to change his direction and run into Ryder.

"Fight" said Golem

Golem picked up Ryder and carried him over his head, but Ryder was able to escape, only for Golem to slam him into the walls. Ryder quickly got up and threw a smoke bomb in Golem's face, giving Ryder the chance to fight back. Ryder continuously beat down Golem, before slipping behind him and disconnecting one of Golem's tubes.

"You one trick pony, you better learn some new strategies" said Golem

Golem pressed the button on his wristband, sending more Toxinne into his system.

"Be careful not to overdose on that stuff" said Ryder

Golem charged at Ryder but Ryder threw another smoke bomb at him, before beating him down again, Ryder went for Golem's tubes again, but this time, Golem countered by holding Ryder over his head and slamming him onto his knee.

"I expected better from you, let us hope you find peace in death" said Golem

"We'll have to wait for another 50 years" said Ryder

Ryder used his crossbow to hit Golem in the shoulder, when his back was turned, Ryder used the hidden blade in his other gauntlet to cut one of the tubes. Golem used his device to send more Toxinne into his system.

"I'm getting sick of you" said Golem

Golem charged at Ryder, but Ryder was able to flip over him and remove another tube, but Golem once again injected himself with more of the steroid.

"Careful, too much of that stuff can't be good for you" said Ryder

"Good think I don't plan on using more, I've now used all of the recommended dose" said Golem

Golem charged at Ryder, but Ryder caught him off guard using some sort of gun that sent a major jolt of electricity at Golem, after which, Ryder shocked Golem with the stun stick he took earlier, the combined electricity stopped Golem's heart, Ryder quickly went to the platform, where Clockwork had ran off, he then saved Francis from the electric chair.

"You killed him" said Francis

"No, I didn't, he's in cardiopulmonary arrest, I need to revive him, you go after Jebediah" said Ryder

"You mean, you didn't kill him?" asked Francis

"That's not my style, now go" said Ryder

Francis ran off and Ryder returned to Golem, he used the stun stick to attempt to resuscitate him, the second Golem's heart started beating again, he grabbed Ryder by the throat, he tried to inject himself with more Toxinne, but it wasn't working.

"Huh, out of Toxinne?" asked Ryder

Golem grabbed something out of his back pocket, it was some sort of gun with an injection needle attached.

"I always carry an extra supply" said Golem

"No, don't, you've already filled up, who knows what an overdose would do to you" said Ryder

"I don't care" said Golem

Golem injected himself with the overdose and he grew from 6"4 to 8"0 his weight also increased from 255 pounds to about 522 pounds, he was a giant.

"Oh my god" said Ryder

The now massive Golem slammed Ryder into the floor, he tried jumping up and hitting him, but Ryder used his explosive slime to blast a hole into the floor and send both men underground, allowing Ryder to get away.

"Angelo, Golem overdosed on the Toxinne, what is going to happen?" asked Ryder

"_Well, I did some online research, you have 10 minutes to beat him before he becomes unstoppable_" said Angelo

Ryder noticed several electrodes on the walls, he had an idea, he snuck up behind Golem before he leaped on him and covered his eyes.

"Get off of me" said Golem

Ryder was able to make Golem run into one of the electrodes, before beating him down and sending him back into the same electrode, once he had done that, Ryder hid inside one of the floor grates near another electrode and waited, when Golem walked near, Ryder hopped out and kicked Golem into the electrode.

"I will KILL YOU" shouted Golem

Ryder hid in the grates again when he got away, he got a little worried now because Golem started checking the grates, when Golem passed, Ryder jumped out and blinded Golem again, sending him into another electrode, when Golem was sent into the electrode, he fell over, apparently defeated, Ryder contacted Angelo

"Angelo, it's over, I've beaten Golem" said Ryder

Golem quickly came to and grabbed Ryder by the throat, pinning him against the wall.

"_Sir, are you alright?_" asked Angelo

Golem slammed Ryder into the wall, Ryder quickly got up, when Golem charged at him, Ryder grabbed his grappling hook and used it to subdue Golem by tying him to 2 electrical pacification devices, shocking Golem even more, before he fell unconscious.

"He's done" said Ryder

Ryder activated his glasses, and realised something about Golem's bloodstream.

"Oh no...this isn't good" said Ryder

Police officers entered through the hole Golem made, since Golem was unconscious, he was easy to drag away.

"Take him away, and don't forget to remove his vest" said Francis

"No, keep the vest on him" said Ryder

"What? Why?" asked Francis

"When Golem overdosed on the chemical, he made himself like that permanently, but if doesn't keep taking the Toxinne chemical, the stuff already in his blood will kill him" said Ryder

"What?" asked Francis

"Well, the Toxinne was originally a steroid for him, not it's more of a medication, from now on, he needs to take it to survive, if not, he'll die" said Ryder

"Oh, I feel sorry for him" said Francis

"Hey, what happened with Clockwork?" asked Ryder

"We got him, also, since you were so kind as to take out so many of the inmates, we were able to get everyone back to their cells" said Francis

"Good, I better get going, I have to return to the city" said Ryder

Ryder headed off until he reached the outside of the Asylum again, he hopped inside he wing and flew off, he received a communication from Angelo

"_Sir, aren't you worried about Golem knowing your secret identity?_" asked Angelo

"A bit, but I don't think it will make that much of a difference" said Ryder

* * *

><p><strong>That ends this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it<strong>

**READ AND REVIEW**


	11. Breathing in Fear Part 1

Time for the newest chapter

Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics

* * *

><p>David was relaxing at home, he was doing some stuff in one of his puzzle books while watching TV.<p>

"Well Angelo, today is a great day, there hasn't been a single crime in a week" said David

"I guess the criminals are scared of Red Ryder" said Angelo

"Hey wait, look" said David, pointing to the TV

A news report interrupted the show that David was watching

==News Report==

"_Just hours ago, a plane leaving the Ambrose City airport crashed on it's was out of the country, the only casualty was Dr. Jacob Crow, a high ranking scientist in Ambrose City, most known for his research on Human Fear, Jacob Crow was a well loved man in Ambrose City and I know that he will be missed" said the news reporter_

==End of News Report==

"Oh no, as I recall, Jacob was a close friend of your father" said Angelo

"Yeah, Jacob was a great guy, he was like an uncle to me" said David

==That Night==

Red Ryder was in the Ryder-Wing, he was scouting the city looking for any criminal activity, so far nothing, suddenly, he received a communication from the commissioner.

"Commissioner, what seems to be the problem?" asked Ryder

"_Red Ryder, we need you at Rollins Asylum_" said Francis

"I'm on my way" said Ryder

Ryder flew the Wing to Rollins Asylum, when he arrived, he entered, he searched the asylum for Francis until he found him on the 2nd floor.

"Commissioner" said Ryder

"Red Ryder, glad to see you could make it" said Francis

"What seems to be the trouble?" asked Ryder

"Well, it's some of the inmates, over the past number of weeks, some of them have appeared to act scared of everything they see" said Francis

"That's it?" asked Ryder

"Well, at one moment they seem fearless, they could break you in half, next moment they act like everything around them could kill them" said Francis

"That actually does seem odd, I'll check it out" said Ryder

Ryder flew to Rollin's Asylum, when he arrived, he spoke to the commissioner, who handed him a file on the case.

"Over the last few weeks, tonnes of inmates have went to sleep acting like their normal selves, but the next morning, they seem scared of everything, like the smallest thing could kill them, we have no leads" said the commissioner

"Luckily on the way over here, I thought of an idea, maybe one of the other inmates saw something" said Ryder

"Not the worst idea" said Francis

==Later==

Francis was sitting in his office, Ryder stood in the corner. Officers wheeled in the person that they decided to interview on a dolly, it was none other than Ryder's first ever enemy, the serial killer, Vance Roland, for safety precautions, Roland was tied to the dolly, officers placed him in a straight jacket and he was wearing a muzzle.

"Vance Roland, long time no see" said Ryder

"Nice to see you too Ryder, it's been a while" said Roland

"Listen Vance, we need to ask you, have you seen anything regarding the strange events involving the criminals over the past number of weeks?" asked Francis

"Funny you should mention that, because I have seen something" said Vance

"What have you seen?" asked Ryder

"Now, now, my words are not free, you scratch my back and I scratch yours" said Roland

"Vance, we are not releasing you from the asylum" said Francis

"Don't jump to conclusions commissioner, that wasn't what I was going to say, I have 2 small requests, I know 2 things, each time you agree to a request, I tell you something I know, does that seem fair?" asked Roland

"Very well" said Ryder

"First request, I want to be transferred to a new cell, in my current one, there's no one to talk to, I would like a cell in a more public section of the asylum, so I can chat with other inmates" said Vance

"Seems fair enough, alright, we agree to that Roland, so what do you know?" asked Francis

"In my current cell, I have noticed a shadowy figure passing by every night at 10PM, then, the same figure returns at Midnight, when the figure arrives at 10PM, there is a green mist coming off of them, but when they return at midnight, it's gone" said Roland

"Alright, what's your second demand?" asked Ryder

"My trophies, my collection..." said Roland

"You mean the thumbs" said Francis

"Yes, the thumbs that I have taken from the zombies, I want my collection back, I want my thumbs back in my possession" said Roland

"That's crazy, you're not getting the thumbs back" said Francis

"You've got a deal Roland" said Ryder

"What?" asked Francis

"Roland, you can have the thumbs back, provided you don't try anything with them" said Ryder

"Very well" said Roland

"What else do you know?" asked Ryder

"The shadowy figure, I always notice it coming from the 5th floor" said Roland

"The 5th floor?" asked Francis

"Yes, exactly" said Roland

"Thanks Vance, I think we have enough, officers, take him back, Roland, you can expect to get your new cell soon" said Ryder

The officers wheeled Roland out of Francis' office.

"Ryder, are you sure about giving that murderer back his thumbs?" asked Francis

"Why not? What's he going to do with them?" asked Ryder

Ryder left the office and went to the fifth floor, he took a file with him, when he noticed something, the first person affected by the series of events' initials were AA, the person after that's initials were AB, then AC, AD, AE etc.

"Huh, I guess that must be the culprit's method of selecting their victims" said Ryder

Ryder walked through the floor, all the criminals that had been affected by the series of events were being kept in a sort of storage cell behind a pane of bullet proof glass.

"So these are the people that have been targeted by this" said Ryder

At that second, one of the criminals jumped out at Ryder, but couldn't get past the glass.

"Get me out of here!" begged the criminal

==Later==

Ryder returned to the Commissioner's office, he needed to tell him what he found out.

"Red Ryder, have you discovered who's behind this?" asked Francis

"Not yet, but I know how to catch him, as it turns out, the culprit selects their targets in alphabetical order of their initials, first was AA, all the way to ZZ" said Ryder

"Nice one Ryder, so we figure out who the culprit is after next and catch them when they try" said Francis

"Exactly, but who is next?" asked Ryder

"Well, the last person who was affected was Damien Derek" said Francis

"So the next target must be someone who's initials are DE" said Ryder

"I think I know who, a bank robber called Dash Elliot, he's on the 3rd floor" said Francis

"So tonight, we stake out his cell, we wait for the culprit, and when they strike, so do we!" said Ryder

==That Night==

Officers were keeping guard of Dash Elliot's cell, Ryder was inspecting the area from the ceiling, if he had looked closer, he would have noticed a shadowy figure walk past the door to the area.

Throughout the whole night, the culprit doesn't strike.

==The Next Morning==

The next morning, the culprit still hadn't struck.

"Well Ryder, so much for that" said Francis

Another officer approached the commissioner.

"Commissioner, another victim of the strange events has just been found" said the officer

Francis and Ryder went to the fifth floor to see another inmate be taken to the cell where all the other affected inmates had been taken.

"What was his name?" asked Ryder

"Daniel Eddie, he's a serial rapist" said Francis

"Initials DE, the culprit must have anticipated out plan and targeted someone else" said Ryder

"Well, we're going to leave you to this, let us know when you have a plan" said Francis

Francis and the other officers left, leaving Ryder alone with the inmates behind the glass, Ryder looked around the area and noticed a shadow.

"What's that?" asked Ryder

Ryder followed the shadow, until he found himself at a dead end. Ryder punched the wall in frustration, and noticed a peculiar sound, as if the wall was hollow.

"What's this?" asked Ryder

Ryder took a few steps back and grabbed his grappling hook, before firing it at the wall, 3 claws shot from the launcher and Ryder pulled back, completely pulling the wall off, revealing a secret tunnel.

"Interesting" said Ryder

Ryder snuck through the tunnel, on the walls were the words 'Fear', 'Scream', 'Terror', 'Fright' and 'Scare' all written in what appeared to be blood. Ryder reached the end of the tunnel and found himself in a small area, he noticed the commissioner through a chain-link panel near where he was standing.

"Commissioner?" asked Ryder

Without warning, something snuck up behind Francis and grabbed him before dragging him away.

"Oh no" said Ryder

Ryder noticed a ventilation duct and snuck through it, when he reached the end, he noticed the commissioner sitting in a hallway, unconscious, or worse.

"Commissioner? Are you okay?" asked Ryder

Ryder checked the commissioner's pulse, but there was none, he was dead.

"No, this can't be" said Ryder

Ryder closed the commissioner's eyes, when he noticed a shadow across the hallway. He tried to contact Angelo.

"Angelo, the commissioner's been murdered, whoever's behind this, they just made it personal" said Ryder

"_We're sorry, the number you reached is unavailable, please check and try again later_" said a voice on Ryder's communicator

"That's odd" said Ryder

Ryder walked through the hallway, following the shadow. When he reached the corner, something weird started to happen, it was like the corridor has turned slightly, also, another shadow appeared at the end of the corridor. Ryder approached the shadow's location, finding himself facing a double door, he opened it up and found himself inside what appeared to be a morgue.

"What's going on?" asked Ryder

"_Fear!_" said a creepy echoed voice

"Who's there?" asked Ryder

"_Get Out!_" said the echo

Ryder didn't listen, he searched the morgue, but found nothing, suddenly, he heard something on the other side of the door he came in from, being cautious, he approached the door, before slowly opening it, walking through the door he found himself in the same morgue, like he hadn't left.

"What's going on?" asked Ryder

Ryder noticed a difference in the morgue this time, there were 3 body bags on carts in the middle of the room.

"This is getting creepy" said Ryder

Ryder approached the 3 body bags, he unzipped the first one and inside was the body of David Young's father, Edward.

"Dad?" asked Ryder

"_Why son? Why would you let this happen?_" asked Edward, in a creepy voice

Ryder approached the second body bag and opened it, revealing David's mother, Lauren.

"Mom?" asked Ryder

"_Help us, Dave! Don't let us die!_" said Lauren, in a creepy voice

Suddenly, the bodies of both David's parent's disappeared, Ryder looked at the final body bag.

"If my father was in the first bag and my mother was in the second, then who's in here?" asked Ryder

Ryder slowly unzipped the body bag, suddenly, a creepy man wearing a burlap sack over his face jumped out at Ryder, his eyes glowed orange and a puff of smoke was puffed in Ryder's face. When Ryder regained his composure, the body was gone, he turned around and was creeped out by what he saw, the wall of the morgue was gone and several platforms made from pieces of the morgue were hovering over some sort of tornado.

"What is going on?" asked Ryder

Ryder approached the scene, jumping from platform to platform, when he was close enough to the centre of the tornado, 4 blades wrapped around the wall next to Ryder like fingers while a scary laugh could be heard, Ryder peeked around the corner and finally got a good look at the adversary, a skinny man with grey skin dresses in brown tattered clothes with a hood, with a burlap sack over their face with a rope around their neck like a neck tie and a Freddy Krueger glove over their right hand, also, the enemy had grown to 50 feet in height.

"You cannot hide from me Ryder, YOU'RE IN MY WORLD NOW!" said the creepy enemy

Beams of light emerged from the enemy's eyes like flashlights, the creepy adversary started slowly spinning in place. While the enemy was rotating, Ryder started moving from platform to platform, making sure to stay hidden and keep out of sight, later, Ryder noticed a stage light on a far away platform and got an idea.

"You cannot escape my gaze forever Ryder, you will surely die here" said the enemy

Ryder kept moving, staying hidden, during a flash of light, Ryder looked at himself, for a split second, he swore he looked like the enemy that was looking for him, but just as quickly, he changed back. Ryder moved forward, and faced a giant wall, it was structurally weak, Ryder sprayed his explosive slime on the wall and quickly hid before detonating it, the sound of the explosion alerted the enemy and he looked towards the sight of the explosion, he searched behind the walls but couldn't find Ryder, as Ryder had went back before detonating and was hiding behind a different wall, when the enemy looked away, Ryder made a run for it.

"Where are you little Red?" asked the enemy

Ryder continued to run, he reached the stage light and aimed it towards the giant enemy, the brightness of the light caused the enemy in the middle to explode like a vampire to the sun. The explosion caused a bright flash of light that blinded Ryder for a split second, but when his sight returned, he found himself back in the morgue, which was back to normal, also, the figure that Ryder fought in that weird dimension was laying on the floor, but quickly got back to their feet.

"Who are you?" asked Ryder

"I am what every human fears when they sleep, I am the terror of Ambrose City, I am your worst nightmare, I AM NIGHTMARE" said the figure

Nightmare grabbed something from a pouch that he was carrying and threw it at Ryder, causing it to explode in a big puff of smoke.

"Damn smoke bomb" said Ryder

When the smoke cleared, Ryder noticed that Nightmare had disappeared. Ryder exited the morgue and searched for him, but he was gone. Ryder went back through the hallway, he saw the spot where he found the commissioner's corpse, but this time found a normal police officer.

"It wasn't the commissioner? Of course, the second morgue, the corpses of my parents, the creepy dimension and the fake commissioner, they were all illusions created by Nightmare, but how is he doing this? And more importantly, WHY is he doing this?" asked Ryder

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><p><strong>Sorry for the wait, I hope you people enjoyed.<strong>

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	12. Breathing in Fear Part 2

Time for the newest chapter

Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics

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><p>Ryder was in a lab, he created one about the same time he started creating the Red Ryder persona, he spent a year moving supplies to the island incase he needed to access it. He was currently using the computer to search for Nightmare, but couldn't find anything, it had been 2 days since the incident with that creep, Ryder had been trying to search for him since then, but wasn't finding a thing.<p>

"Nothing, wait, what's this?" asked Ryder

Ryder noticed a signal for something on the island, it wasn't Nightmare, it was something else.

"This appears to be a formula for some sort of toxin, a small sample of it would create massive fright and fear in whoever is infected with it, the toxin appears to be called 'TT', but what can that stand for?" asked Ryder

Ryder stepped away from the computer and walked over to a crate, he opened it up and pulled out a new grappling hook, the other one had been slightly damaged. Ryder headed out to find the toxin so he can study it. Ryder left the lab and started travelling underground before he got back to the ground floor.

"I need to find a sample of that toxin to find out what it is" said Ryder

Ryder went to the Rollins Mansion, a large building in the centre of the island, he entered and walked through the main hall, he searched through the hall for something to help him, anything useful, but he found nothing, suddenly, he received a communication from Angelo.

"_Sir, I was researching this TT toxin you were studying and I think I might know what it is_" said Angelo

"What is it?" asked Ryder

"_Well, I remembered some work that you're father's old friend Jacob did, and I found a reference to something called a 'Terror Toxin' then, a few months ago, the formula was stolen_" said Angelo

"The person that stole the formula must have been Nightmare" said Ryder

Angelo hung up, Ryder continued to search the mansion, he passed through the records room, he found an open ventilation system and used it to get around. Ryder found himself inside some sort of office, Ryder used his crime site in his glasses to scan for anything, he found a secret entrance to a hidden room.

"Nightmare must be hiding something here" said Ryder

Ryder entered the hidden room and found several canisters of the Terror Toxin, enough to infect the entire asylum.

"I found the toxin, now to destroy it" said Ryder

Ryder approached the canisters of Nightmare's Terror Toxin, he sprayed the canisters with explosive slime before detonating them and destroying the toxin.

"Time to get out of here" said Ryder

Ryder left the hidden room and left the mansion, on the way out, he passed by a ventilation system releasing some green mist, but Ryder didn't notice it. Ryder walked out of the mansion, but found himself inside a hospital room.

"What's going on?" asked Ryder

Ryder walked across the room and saw his father standing next to a bed at the end of the room.

"Son, I'm afraid there's nothing they can do" said Ryder's father

"_What is he talking about?_" thought Ryder

Ryder noticed a mirror and noticed that he had been changed to his 7 year old self and he was dressed in his normal clothes, he looked on the hospital bed and saw his mother, on the day she died.

"_What is going on?_" thought Ryder

Ryder's mother flat lined and Ryder ran off, he then saw himself on a road, now he was himself as a 9 year old.

"Where am I now?" asked Ryder

Ryder heard a car coming towards him, he flinched but the car passed through him, before pulling to the right and driving into a tree.

"_What was that?_" asked Ryder

Ryder approached the car, he looked in to see who the driver was, and saw it was his father Edward, he was dead.

"Nightmare, he's making me relive my parent's deaths" said Ryder

Ryder walked away, he saw a door, he opened it and found himself in a hallway that appeared to have been destroyed, much like the morgue. Ryder walked through the hallway, when the claws from Nightmare's glove grabbed a wall once again.

"I know you're there" said Nightmare

Once again, Nightmare had grown to a 50 foot giant. Ryder started moving across the hallway while avoiding Nightmare's gaze, when Ryder reached the first corner, he was facing some sort of garden, when he stepped on it, Nightmare stuck his claws into the ground, when he removed his claws, 3 skeletons emerged from the ground and they charged at Ryder. Ryder kept staying out of Nightmare's line of sight, he was able to easily defeat Nightmare's skeletons, when they were defeated, Nightmare looked away, giving Ryder an opportunity to continue.

"I've got you now Ryder, there's no way you will escape this time" said Nightmare

Ryder kept moving from platform to platform, making sure to stay hidden.

"Hahaha, I WILL BREAK YOU!" said Nightmare

Ryder reached another area that seemed to represent a garden, and Nightmare once again used his claws to call forth a horde of Skeletons, but once again, Ryder defeated them, once the last one was defeated, Nightmare looked away. Ryder kept moving from platform to platform, this time, when he reached one platform, a pendulum was blocking his way.

"Stay still, it won't hurt" said Nightmare, before laughing

When Nightmare looked away, Ryder jumped past the pendulum and hide from Nightmare's gaze, when the coast was clear, Ryder kept moving, he reached the final platform and made a run for it, reaching the stage light.

"I see you Ryder" said Nightmare

Nightmare prepared to attack Ryder.

"See this" said Ryder

Ryder pointed the light at Nightmare, like before, the light engulfed Nightmare like a vampire, and a bright flash of light blinded Ryder for a fraction of a second, when Ryder's sight returned, he found himself inside a clock tower.

"How did I get in here?" asked Ryder

Ryder opened the trap door in the floor to get out before leaving the building, he went to the commissioner's office to talk to him.

"Ah, Ryder, have you found the person behind these events yet?" asked Francis

"Yes, but he keeps escaping, what I do know is that he calls himself Nightmare and he's spreading fear using a dangerous chemical called a Terror Toxin" said Ryder

"Then we better get to that chemical before he uses it again" said Francis

"It's alright, I already took care of the chemical, but somehow, he was still able to affect me, now I have no idea where he is" said Ryder

"What does he look like?" asked Francis

Ryder grabbed a sheet of paper from Francis' desk and a pencil and drew a picture of Nightmare.

"This looks familiar, one of the officers thought they saw this man heading to the intensive treatment centre, but after giving a description, everyone assumed he was seeing things" said Francis

"The intensive treatment centre? I'll be back" said Ryder

Ryder left, he headed to the intensive treatment centre, but when he arrived, he found nothing.

"He's not here, he must have left shortly after he arrived" said Ryder

Ryder went to leave, but the second he turned around, he was knocked out by someone. When Ryder woke up, he was tied to a thing people use in insane asylums to move around psychopaths (I forget what they're called) at the entrance of the asylum.

"_What's going on?_" thought Ryder

On one side of the thing was Vance Roland, on the other was Clockwork, they were wheeling him through the asylum, infront of Ryder's eyes was the commissioner.

"I DIDN'T KILL THAT FAMILY" said Ryder

"_Why did I just say that?_" thought Ryder

Ryder looked around, he saw every single enemy he faced were forcing around guards at the asylum, even the diamond thief from when he first became Red Ryder.

"I'm not crazy, I shouldn't be here" said Ryder

"_Now, I know I meant that, but I'm not controlling what I'm saying_" thought Ryder

Vance and Clockwork stopped wheeling Ryder.

"Just got to check your prisoner, dear" said someone

A figure walked infront of Ryder, there was no mistaking who, it was Nightmare. Nightmare started to inspect Ryder.

"We really should feel sorry for him, he never got over his parents' deaths, leaving him quite insane" said Nightmare

"_Of course, another nightmare_" thought Ryder

"What's going on inside your head, Young? Bah, he's gone! Just a twisted shell of a man" said Nightmare

"_Wait, he knows who I am_" thought Ryder

"He's all yours Commissioner" said Nightmare

Ryder started to struggle, trying to escape. Panicking, the commissioner aimed a gun at Ryder's head and fired and everything went black. Ryder awoke underground, he dug up for a few seconds before escaping what appeared to be a grave, looking at the tombstone, it was David Young's grave.

"Nightmare knows who I am" said Ryder

Ryder started moving, passing by several cells that all contained Ryder. Moving on, Ryder found himself in some sort of lab, like before, it had been recreated to look like Nightmare's world.

"What are you doing Ryder?" said Nightmare

Nightmare's claws wrapped around the wall like fingers, he searched the platforms looking for Ryder, when Nightmare wasn't looking, Ryder made a run for it. When Ryder reached a second platform, he made a noise that Nightmare seemed to hear.

"What was that?" asked Nightmare

Nightmare stuck his claws into the ground infront of Ryder, when he moved his claws away, skeletons emerged from the ground, they tried to attack Ryder, but Red Ryder was able to take them all down. When the final skeleton was defeated, Nightmare looked at a different platform and Ryder made a run for it, for a split second, Ryder appeared to have turned into Nightmare.

"Are you afraid to come out and face your fears, Ryder?" asked Nightmare

Nightmare stopped shifting his gaze, if Ryder moved away, he would be done for. Ryder noticed a moving canister and had an idea, he gripped onto the back of the canister and held on as it moved, allowing Ryder to pass Nightmare's gaze undetected.

"Keep hiding, Ryder, I will find you" said Nightmare

Ryder kept moving, he leaped onto a metal cage of sorts, but once he did, the cage fell down, making the next platform unreachable, except with Ryder's grappling hook, but if he didn't time Nightmare's gaze correctly, he would be done for. Ryder waited for Nightmare to look away, when Nightmare wasn't looking, Ryder used the grappling hook to reach the next platform.

"Let the madness take you Ryder, FOREVER" said Nightmare

Ryder hid when Nightmare's gaze when Nightmare started looking in Ryder's direction.

"Can you believe what you see, Ryder?" asked Nightmare

Ryder made a run for it, reaching the stage light, but the second he touched it, he snapped out of the trance, in reality, Nightmare was right infront of him, Ryder had his hand around Nightmare's throat.

"Get off of me" said Nightmare

Ryder slowly reached for Nightmare's mask.

"I think you need a little more" said Nightmare

Before Ryder could remove Nightmare's mask, Nightmare grabbed a syringe and jabbed it into Ryder's arm.

"Tell me, what demons have you left to face? Let's find out" said Nightmare

Ryder returned to Nightmare's world, the platform Ryder was standing on crumbled at his feet before breaking all together, causing Ryder to fall, he landed on a platform covered in dirt with a fence at one side and a wall at 2 others, the giant Nightmare was hovering behind the fence.

"Are you enjoying your extra dose of Terror Toxin?" said Nightmare

"You're looking right at me, but you're not destroying me" said Ryder

"Oh, I won't rush things this time, I will savour every delicious moment of your terror as I slowly destroy you" said Nightmare

Several skeletons started emerging from the ground, they started attacking Ryder but Ryder was able to defeat them and break them into bits, when the final skeleton was defeated, a stage light came on beneath Nightmare, who was leaning against the fence, the light appeared to burn his hand.

"OW! Oh, you're fighting back? GOOD, it will weaken your resolve" said Nightmare

A massive skeleton emerged from the ground, it charged at Ryder, but Ryder quickly threw it off guard by throwing a shuriken at it's face, causing it to run into the wall. Upon impact, the skeleton broke into pieces, another stage light turned on and burned Nightmare's other hand, leaving only one more light.

"How much longer do you think you can take? Does it frighten you to know that I have almost defeated you?" asked Nightmare

More skeletons emerged from the ground, but Ryder was easily able to defeat each and every last one of them. When the final skeleton was defeated, the final stage light turned on, aimed at Nightmare's head, the bright light slightly blinded Nightmare, causing him to move back a bit, Ryder took the chance and moved the middle light at Nightmare, like a vampire, Nightmare was defeated. Back in reality, Ryder had his hand around Nightmare's throat, but Nightmare was on the other side of a set of bars, so Ryder couldn't do anything else.

"What are you doing? You've been given enough Terror Toxin to drive 10 men crazy! What are you?" asked Nightmare

"What are YOU?!" asked Ryder

Ryder grabbed Nightmare's mask and removed it, revealing someone that Ryder actually knew.

"Dr. Jacob Crow? You're Nightmare?" asked Ryder

"I am" said Jacob

"But why?" asked Ryder

"Because, I was doing experiments on Human Fear, my biggest breakthrough was the Terror Toxin, I spent day and night perfecting the chemical, but then my project was shut down, I fled the building with as much of the toxin as I could carry and I hid it here on the island, but then people started suspecting me, so I faked my death in that plane crash so I could continue my research" said Jacob

"You're crazy" said Ryder

Jacob took his claws and stabbed Ryder's arm, forcing Ryder to release his grip.

"Why fight it? You're as crazy as everyone in this asylum. You need us as much as we need you. And to prove it, I'll flood the catacombs with enough toxin to break the minds of Ambrose City for 1000 years" said Jacob

Jacob ran off. Ryder ran through the hallway and passed through a door, leading him to a room with a set of elevators. Jacob was in one of them with a canister of the Toxin with him, laughing like a maniac, when the elevator reached the bottom, Ryder jumped down the elevator shaft, using his suit's glider mode to avoid any damage.

"_I've got to get to Crow before he infects the city_" thought Ryder

Ryder entered a ventilation system and crawled through, he found a small hidden room, filled with images of different inmates, computers, and canisters of Terror Toxin.

"This must be Crow's secret hideaway" said Ryder

Ryder entered another ventilation system and used to get to the lower ground floor, he passed through a door and found himself in the sewers.

"You're too late Ryder" said Jacob

Ryder looked to see the expert on fear at the end of a path, Jacob stood near the water with one final canister of his Terror Toxin in hand.

"Don't do it Crow, you're better than this" said Ryder

Ryder stepped forward, but was immediately halted by Jacob.

"Hold it right there Ryder, take one more step and I pour my toxin into the city's water supply, everyone in all of Ambrose City will be infected by my toxin, and fear will be spread throughout the city" threatened the psychopathic doctor

"You don't have to do this, just put down the canister and this can all end" said Ryder

Crow removed the lid of the canister and extended his arm out, preparing to pour his toxin into the waters.

"Don't, if you infect the city's water supply then you'll be affected too" said Ryder

"I'm afraid not, I have been experimenting with the toxin so much that I developed an immunity to the stuff, the toxin won't affect me" said Jacob

A shadowy figure snuck up from behind Crow, Ryder tried to warn Crow, but the figure quickly knocked the doctor out.

"Thanks for the help" said Ryder

The figure stepped forward, revealing it to be one of Ryder's oldest enemies, there was no mistaking that headgear, it was Ripjaw.

"Hello Ryder" said Ripjaw

"Damien Derek? You stopped Crow? Why?" asked Ryder

"Because he tried to infect me, he failed when I fought him off and he ran off" said Ripjaw

"What are you even doing down here?" asked Ryder

"Due to the extra strength bite that my headgear possesses, the police keep me down here, so I don't chew my way through the door" said Ripjaw

"Well thanks for helping me out here" said Ryder

"Don't go thanking me just yet Ryder, I still intend to kill you, but not yet, now is not the time, one thing that's most exciting about the kill is the hunt" said Ripjaw before walking away

Ryder activated his communicator to contact the commissioner.

"Hello Francis, I found the culprit, you won't believe who it is...yeah, I'll bring him to you" said Ryder before hanging up

==The Next Day==

David had returned home, he was having dinner with Angelo.

"So Dr. Crow faked his death to continue his experiments?" asked Angelo

"He did, I'm surprised he would do anything like that, he was always a close friend of my father" said David

"You said that you think he knows you're Red Ryder, how do you think that?" asked Angelo

"During one of those nightmares, he called me Young, also, he said I never got over my parents' deaths, then I emerged from a grave that had my name on the tombstone" said David

"Well, everything was an illusion, maybe that was just an effect of his toxin" said Angelo

"Yeah, maybe" said David

"Do you think there might be some hope for Crow's reform?" asked Angelo

"I hope so" said David

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><p><strong>And that does it for this chapter.<strong>

**Let me know what you think about Nightmare**

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